Regarding some of the best players and most gifted goal scorers in the NHL, Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak has his name come up just about all the time. The 28-year-old has been the backbone of the Black and Gold's success during his time in Boston.
In 2022-23, the Bruins were pitting together the best regular season in NHL history when they set a record for wins (65) and points (131) in an 82-game schedule and they did it with a work-man-like performance on a nightly basis. However, as the season went along, there was chatter about the future of Pastrnak in Boston as he was set to become a free agent in the summer of 2023. GM Don Sweeney didn't let that happen.
On March 2, 2023, the Bruins announced that they signed Pastrnak to an eight-year, $90 million contract with an AAV of $11.25 million, making him the highest-paid player in Boston.
David Pastrnak is the highest-paid Bruins player and it's well-deserved
Pastrnak has blossomed into one of the game's top goal-scorers. Over the last five seasons, he has 216 regular-season goals. He finished tied with Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season with 48 goals to share the Maurice Rocket Richard Award. With 12 games remaining in the season was paused in March, he needed two goals for his first 50-goal season and was likely a lock for it.
The last three seasons, he's scored 40-plus goals, including 61 in the Bruins' record-setting 2022-23 campaign. He had 47 this past season and the only season he didn't crack the 40-goal plateau was in the 56-game shortened 2020-21 season.
In the Bruins' first-round playoff series this past spring, head coach Jim Montgomery called out his superstar after a Game 6 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs about needing more from him to help the Black and Gold avoid blowing a second consecutive 3-1 series lead in the opening round. Early in overtime of Game 7, Pastrnak answered the request from his coach when he beat multiple Toronto players to a dump-in and scored the series winner.
Pastrnak is in the prime of his career and his numbers should only get better now that he will have Elias Lindholm as his center for the next six-plus seasons and it should only increase his goal-scoring numbers at even strength and on the power play with Lindholm playing in the bumper position on the top power-play unit.