David Pastrnak would be the first to tell you that his 2026 Winter Olympics wasn't a success. He had five points in five games, and his performance failed to have the groundbreaking impact many expected when he left for Milano-Cortina. Czechia felt like a team poised to upset some teams on the way to the medal rounds, but they ended up falling to Canada in the quarterfinals.
The problem for Pastrnak and his teammates was that they didn't have the depth to keep up with some of their more talented counterparts. Pastrnak and Martin Necas were controlling most of the play for the Czechs, but outside of those two star NHLers, the offense didn't have too much to offer. If people doubted Necas and Pastrnak's impact on the game, some advanced analytics from JFresh prove that it was a two-man show.
The top scoring chance creators of the 2026 Olympics heading into the Gold Medal Game pic.twitter.com/gA9XvtZjPN
— JFresh 🇨🇦 (@JFreshHockey) February 21, 2026
The fact that Pastrnak and Necas ranked above Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini in chances contributed is surprising if you watched many of the Canada games. The line of Mackinnon, Celebrini, and Connor McDavid seemed to be all over the ice every time they touched it, but the quietness of Pastrnak's brilliance is something that doesn't necessarily surprise Boston Bruins fans.
Czechia's hole in lineup from Pavel Zacha injury
It's extremely unfortunate for the Czechs that Pavel Zacha had to miss the tournament because of a concussion. He would've been a welcome addition to the top-six, as the Bruins' center performs well on the international stage. Czechia didn't have enough horses in their top six to get enough sustained offense, as evidenced by the fact that they have just two players in the top 10 of this list.
The importance of this list might be lost on some, but two of the countries with the most players on it are the United States and Canada, which just battled in an epic gold medal game. It also shows the problem with Canada's attack: their first line was the only players on the list, which showed they needed more scoring from all four lines.
While it was an unfortunate tournament for Czechia, their success at the recent World Junior Championships shows that the best is yet to come for the growing hockey nation. Hopefully, Pastrnak and Zacha will still be front and center at the next Winter Olympics in the French Alps.