When the 2025-26 NHL season started, there was a lot of pressure on Boston Bruins superstar David Pastrnak. Once again, he was looked at as the top producer for the Bruins under first-year coach Marco Sturm.
As was the case, Pastrnak didn't disappoint and had another 100-point regular season, his fourth straight. What makes the accomplishment more impressive is that he did it in 77 games after playing in all 82 regular-season games the last three seasons. Still, the Bruins' making the postseason was a big surprise, and a major reason why was Pastrnak.
David Pastrnak's 100-point regular season
In the last four seasons, Pastrnak has done his damage, lighting the lamp with four straight 40-plus goal seasons. He didn't come anywhere near that in 2025-26 as he found the back of the net just 29 times, with 10 coming on the power play. That left just 19 goals at even strength for one of the game's most gifted goal scorers.
However, when he wasn't scoring, he was being a playmaker. He registered a career-high 71 assists this past season, which is eight more than he had in 2023-24 and 2024-25 with 63 each campaign. Twenty-three of his assists came on the power play. Talk about being a team player.
What made his regular season even more incredible was that he did it moving up and down the lineup for Sturm. There were games where he was moved down the lineup, and he found himself on a line with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov. They were responsible for a win earlier this year against the Winnipeg Jets on the road.
David Pastrnak's 2025-26 postseason
Again, not many people outside of the locker room in Boston had the Bruins making the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, after struggling to start the season in Sturm's system, they were able to put it all together and secure the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot. With that came a first-round matchup with the Atlantic Division champs, the Buffalo Sabres.
Yes, you read that right, the Sabres were the Kings of the Atlantic Division this year. A big underdog, the Black and Gold took Buffalo to six games before falling in Game 6 on TD Garden ice. However, a big reason why the series went back to the TD Garden for a sixth game was Pastrnak. In overtime of Game 5 in Western New York, he scored on a breakaway for a 2-1 overtime victory to extend the series two more days.
However, in Game 6, he picked up just an assist and logged a plus/minus of minus-3 in the series-deciding game. That shouldn't put a damper on his series, where he finished with three goals and seven points.
David Pastrnak 2026-27 Grade: A-
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