BRIGHTON – After getting a taste of what it’s like to be a playoff hero, it’s pretty clear that David Pastrnak wants a whole lot more of that feeling.
No. 88 memorably collected his first career overtime game-winner in the Stanley Cup playoffs when he ended the first-round series against the Maple Leafs in Game 7 at TD Garden and has obviously come close to team-wide postseason glory in the past after being part of the Bruins group that fell short in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues back in 2019.
BOSTON BREAKS TORONTO'S HEART AGAIN 🐻
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 5, 2024
DAVID PASTRNAK WITH THE GAME 7 OT WINNER‼️ pic.twitter.com/AVHN5gZfaV
And he’s collected the individual accolades and All-Star appearances that go along with posting huge statistical seasons like the 61 goals he posted in 2022-23 and the back-to-back 100-plus point seasons that he put together over the last two campaigns.
His legacy in terms of being one of his generation’s best offensive players, and arguably the best goal-scorer in B’s franchise history, are on solid ground at this point. But the big thing that the 28-year-old game-breaker is missing on his hockey resume at this point is a Stanley Cup title that would give him a healthy push toward Hall of Fame territory in the next few years.
That’s something that was pretty clearly on Pastrnak’s mind as he addressed the media this week at the beginning of another training camp with the Black and Gold.
“I want to win the Cup,” said Pastrnak, when asked about his priorities for the upcoming season while coming off a year where he finished eighth in the Hart Trophy voting. “Been here a while, and every year we have a competitive team that is ready to compete and fight for the ultimate goal we’re all trying to reach.
“So it’s early, [just the] first couple days of training camp. But the additions are here, and it’s just up to us now to make sure we can come together tight as a group — try to build something special.”
Pastrnak is obviously excited about the presence of newly signed Swedish center Elias Lindholm, who looked really comfortable centering Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha on the first day of training camp before coming up with some soreness and staying off the ice for Friday’s second camp session.
“He has a little bit of both [David Krejci] and Bergy,” said Pastrnak of the Swedish center. “Obviously, he’s a hell of a two-way player, and he has a high hockey IQ. He’s a righty —I played most of my career with the right-hand centermen, so I’m really excited to build chemistry. And whether we play together or not, we for sure are gonna have some looks on power play or five-on-five.”
It will be interesting to see what Pastrnak can do when lined up with a bone fide top line center who’s posted big offensive numbers in the NHL prior to coming to Boston, but his first training camp offerings served as a reminder that it isn’t about the offense or the dazzling highlight reel goals that Pastrnak is going to score this year.
It’s instead about cementing his legacy in the NHL, and in Boston, by bringing home another Stanley Cup after he missed out on the 2011 championship train by a few years after getting drafted in the first-round pick three years after the Bruins bested the Canucks, and one year after the Bruins came close to doing it once again against the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final.
MONTY ON THE CLOCK
It’s not just Jeremy Swayman that has contract business to get done with the Boston Bruins as it’s believed Jim Montgomery is entering the last year of his three-year contract for the 2024-25 NHL season. A lame-duck coaching situation is not really ideal for a head coach that’s been highly successful during the regular season, or the team in these situations, and Don Sweeney confirmed earlier this week that there have been “talks” between the coach and the Bruins on a new contract.
Nobody knows how that will resolve itself at this point after the Bruins did some coaching staff shuffling last summer with Joe Sacco bumped up to associate head coach, and Jay Leach hired on as an assistant coach after spending the last few seasons with the Seattle Kraken. But Montgomery said it wasn’t going to impact him either way as he enters a year where expectations have been raised for the team after busy roster-building summer, and a Stanley Cup playoff hurdle that still stands as a challenge for Montgomery after two cracks at it with the Black and Gold.
“I don’t think it would affect me, just being honest. I love being a Bruin, I think I'm very fortunate to be a head coach of the Boston Bruins and my focus when I am the Boston Bruins [coach] is staying in the present and just getting better every day,” said Montgomery, when asked if going into the year without a contract would impact the way he might coach the team. “I know it sounds cliché, but I can't allow myself to think about the future because I'd be a little bit of a hypocrite.
“I'm asking our players to always stay in the moment. I have to stay in the moment [too]. So that's the way I look at things. Doesn't matter if I had an eight-year contract or a one-day contract. That's the way I proceed. That's my process.”
Montgomery is saying the right things, but keeping to that in practice is going to be awfully difficult if the pressure mounts amidst the pockets of struggle that happen to every NHL team in every regular season.
ONE-TIMERS
*Interesting first couple of days for 20-year-old Matt Poitras, who put on 10 pounds of muscle over the last six months after undergoing shoulder surgery, and the ensuing rehab, that ended his first NHL season prematurely. Poitras was playing on the wing during the first day of NHL training camp after skipping the B’s rookie camp, and on Friday he was in the middle at center between Pastrnak and Zacha with Lindholm sitting out due to some soreness after his first practice.
When Don Sweeney was asked about Poitras at the start of camp, it certainly didn’t sound like the Bruins would be upset if the youngster marinated in the AHL for a little bit before being thrust back out into the NHL gauntlet.
[We’re] excited to have [Poitras] back. He's going to play both center and wing through camp,” said Sweeney. “He caught us by surprise to some degree last year, and really until the injury was on target to stay with us. This year is a little different, where we have some options in terms of possibly playing some [AHL] games in Providence. His goal is to make the team and pick up where he left off.
“It might take a little bit of time for him to get reacclimated and timing wise and such, we have a lot of camp. That was one of the reasons why he and [Georgii Merkulov] and Fabian [Lysell] did not participate in the rookie camp because we have an extended period of camp with seven games and black and gold game. So, I think there's really ample opportunity to put them in situations to see if they're going to be ready to handle a full load in the NHL and make our team.”
But Poitras didn’t sound like somebody keen on starting the season in Providence, even if it might be the best thing for him developmentally.
“I want to be here. I want to be able to show that I belong here and that they don’t really have a choice,” said Poitras, who finished with five goals and 15 points in 33 games along with a plus-4 rating during his first NHL action as a teenager. [I want to show the Bruins that] you gotta keep me here.”
Love the attitude on Poitras, but it’s going to be a real uphill battle for him to win the third line center spot, or a wing spot on the NHL roster where he feels a little less suited to play there than some of the other guys amongst the B’s forward group.
