Superstar winger David Pastrnak is, by all accounts, the best thing the Bruins have going for themselves right now. And according to the annual NHL Network list ranking the top 20 wingers right now, Pastrnak is actually one of the best things going in all of the National Hockey League.
This year’s honor came with a two-spot jump up the board for Pastrnak, who ranked fourth on last year’s top-20 list, and with Pastrnak second to only the Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov.
Carrying an offensively-starved Bruins team on his back a season ago, Pastrnak posted 43 goals and 106 points in 82 games for the Bruins a season ago. Pastrnak’s 43 goals finished the year as the fifth-most among all NHLers, while his 106 points were tied with Leon Draisaitl for the third-most in the NHL, trailing only Kucherov (121) and the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon (116).
It was also Pastrnak’s third straight season of at least 100 points, making him just the third Bruin in team history to have three straight 100-plus point seasons, and putting him in the same class as Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr.
And despite skating on what was the fifth-worst team in hockey, Pastrnak’s season was enough to get him some considerable Hart Trophy love, with an 11th-place finish on this year’s Hart ballot behind one second-place vote, two fourth-place votes, and 11 fifth-place votes.
As it relates to the NHL Network countdown, this is Pastrnak’s third straight season with a top-four spot on the countdown, with Pastrnak acknowledged as the top winger in hockey in 2023 and fourth-best in 2024.