Boston Bruins: What to expect from David Pastrnak in 2021
By Matt Hawkins
After having an amazing 2019-20 season, what should we expect from Boston Bruins’ right wing David Pastrnak in 2021?
Boston Bruins‘ right wing David Pastrnak had an unreal 2019-20 campaign. In just 70 games, Pasta scored 48 goals and 95 points.
His 48 goals were tied for the best in the NHL with the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, meaning Pasta shared the 2019-20 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy with The Great 8. Additionally, Pastrnak’s 95 points were tied for third with the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin.
However, I am not expecting this level of production from Pasta again in 2021. He is expected to miss at least a month of the season as he’s still recovering from offseason surgeries on his right hip and a labrum.
These are difficult injuries and surgeries to come back from and continue to play at the level he was before the surgeries. Moreover, his linemate Brad Marchand will be just around a month in from returning from sports hernia surgery, so I still expect him to be a little off.
Because of this, I expect Pasta to take a few games to get back to himself. Even then, this still won’t be the level he was at in 2019-20.
Additionally, Torey Krug leaving for the St. Louis Blues in free agency will hurt Pasta’s production — both at even strength and on the powerplay.
With Pastrnak expected to return in mid-February, this puts him in the range of missing at least the first 15 games of the season. According to recent reports, Pasta is on schedule in his recovery. Therefore, I don’t expect him to miss more than the first 20 games.
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So, I’ll say Pasta returns on Feb. 21 against the Philadelphia Flyers, missing the first 18 games of the season. This would also mean if Pastrnak doesn’t miss any of the remaining games he’ll play a total of 38 games in 2021.
Pastrnak’s points per game, goals per game, and assists per game were all incredible last year. However, again with Pasta returning from two offseason surgeries, Marchand being just a month in from returning from injury, and no Krug, I expect these to drop.
I think Pasta’s goals per game drops from 0.69 to 0.50, assists per game from 0.67 to 0.45, and points per game from 1.36 to 0.95. This would leave Pastrnak with 19 goals and 17 assists for 36 points in 38 games.
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Therefore, my expectations for Pasta in 2021 are that he’ll be great again, but he won’t be at that out-of-this-world level that he was at in 2019-20.