David Pastrnak will drive Boston Bruins fans crazy sometimes when he'll get stopped trying to stickhandle through three players or attempt to thread a needle with a pass instead of shooting. Some of those mistakes loom larger in the playoffs, and you'll always get the pundits speculating on whether the Bruins are better off moving on for someone who can perform better in the postseason.
The truth is, some of Pastrnak's tendencies test my patience too, but that doesn't mean I think the Bruins should explore trading him in the offseason. Players with the creativity and offensive skillset of Pastrnak are few and far between, and without him, the Bruins' offense wouldn't have anyone who can pull off a highlight reel goal like the one he scored in overtime in Game 5.
David Pastrnak keeps the Bruins’ season alive.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 29, 2026
Game 6 on Friday night. pic.twitter.com/Savs0eaBZB
For what it's worth, it still definitely seems like Pastrnak is fighting something, despite denying any chance of an injury after Game 4. He has some more moments in Game 5 that looked like he wasn't operating at 100%, but he did look more engaged and had a lot more chances than he had in Games 3 and 4 combined.
It could've been reuniting with Pavel Zacha that made him perform well, or it could've also been a better performance from Marat Khusnutdinov in Game 5 that opened up more space for his Czech liemates. Nevertheless, when the Bruins needed Pastrnak the most, he showed up and sent the series back to Game 6 in Boston.
It's okay to be frustrated about the team's performance in the first four games, but the social media discourse about Pastrnak as a potential trade candidate in the offseason was a bit overblown. If you have someone like Pastrnak, you don't let him go, you just surround him with better players.
In a playoff setting when coaches are doing more line matching, Pastrnak needs a successful second line to help take away some of the bad matchups. Right now, opposing teams can target the Bruins' star, as they know there isn't any high-end skill coming off the bench on the other shifts.
Watching Pastrnak struggle in some postseason games makes it seem like an easy decision to cut ties and start fresh, but Bruins fans need to ask other teams how that went for them in their pursuit of a Stanley Cup. Ask the Calgary Flames how they've been doing since trading Matthew Tkachuk, or how long it took the Sabres to recover from trading Jack Eichel, or how quickly the Toronto Maple Leafs fell after letting Mitch Marner walk.
Don Sweeney needs to upgrade the roster in the offseason if he wants to go on a lengthy playoff run, but fans need to realize that trading Pastrnak isn't going to be one of those moves.
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