20 Under 25 Rankings: #3 – David Pastrnak

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TURNS 25: MAY 25, 2021
FINAL RATING: 8.2

David Pastrnak needed to make a quantum leap in his development in this, his third NHL season, after showing great promise during his teenage years in the league, and he’s doing exactly that. The 20-year-old natural scorer has always had the skating, shooting and dazzling playmaking skills, but now he’s up to 190 pounds while winning battles and hanging onto the puck.

Pastrnak has easily been the B’s best forward in the first three months this season, and has been among the league’s top goal-scorers despite missing time along the way with injuries and a suspension. Some of it is obviously the natural maturation process after a couple of years in the NHL, but some of it is also the opportunities now being given to Pastrnak on the power play and riding on the right wing with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

Clearly, Pastrnak put the work in while staying in Boston for six weeks last summer rather than returning home to his native Czech Republic, and the results speak for themselves. The dedication to improving his game and strong work ethic round out the package, and make the former first-round pick the future face of the franchise.

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