David Pastrňák was born on 25 May 1996 in Havířov, Czechia, to father Milan Pastrňák and mother Marcela Ziembova.[1] He first became interested in hockey through his father, who was a professional player and later a coach.[2] He began skating when he was three years old.[3] Milan left the family and moved to Karviná when Pastrňák was three years old, and after that Pastrňák spent weekends with his father. For most of his childhood, he lived with his mother and older brother in a two-bedroom apartment.[4][5]
When he was 13 years old, Pastrňák got an agent and his hockey equipment was paid for; this reduced the financial stress on his family.[6][2] At age 15, Pastrňák moved to the nearby town of Třinec, where he lived alone in a hotel room. This was considered a test to ensure that Pastrňák could move to Sweden the next year.[4][2] During the 2011–12 season, Pastrňák led the Czech under-18 league in goals (41)[7] and points (68).[8] For the 2012–13 season, Pastrňák moved to Sweden to play for the junior squad of Södertälje SK. While in Södertälje, Pastrňák learned to speak English and Swedish,[1] and started to watch NHL games for the first time.[4][9] In May 2013, just before Pastrňák's seventeenth birthday, Milan died after a yearslong battle with skin cancer.[10][1] Grieving his father's death, Pastrňák intensified his training.[1][11]
Playing career
Södertälje SK
For the 2013–14 season, Pastrňák was promoted to Södertälje SK's senior team in Allsvenskan, Sweden's second-highest professional league. He led his team in points, scoring 8 goals and 16 assists in 36 games, though he missed part of the season due to a concussion.[1]
Boston Bruins (2014–present)
Beginnings (2014–2016)
After being drafted by the Boston Bruins with the 25th pick overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Pastrňák signed a three-year, entry-level contract on 15 July 2014.[12] Pastrňák attended the Bruins' training camp for the 2014–15 season before being assigned to the Providence Bruins, the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, on 7 October 2014. He made his NHL debut with the Bruins on 24 November, logging 7:53 of ice time in a 3–2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored the first two goals of his NHL career against Ray Emery on 10 January 2015, as the initial pair of goals resulting in a 3–1 Bruins' road win over the Philadelphia Flyers.[13] On 29 March, Pastrňák became the youngest Bruins' player in history to score an overtime, game-winning goal in regular season play in Boston's 2–1 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes.[14] At the end of the season, he was one of just two players selected in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft to play in more than 40 NHL games during the 2014–15 season, and along with fellow Bruins' rookie Ryan Spooner, led the team in offense during the last 20 games of the season.[15]
Pastrňák in January 2016.
During a Bruins' regular season home game in the 2015–16 season, against the Penguins on 24 February 2016, Pastrňák became the youngest Bruins' player ever to score a penalty shot goal, which he scored only four minutes into the game, as the first goal en route to a 5–1 Bruins' defeat of the Penguins.[16] His popularity in Boston has led to Bruins' fans giving him the nickname "Pasta".
Stanley Cup Finals run, "Perfection line" era (2016–2023)
On 28 October 2016, Pastrňák was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of New York Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi.[17] The 2016–17 season proved to be a breakout year for Pastrňák, who recorded 34 goals and 36 assists for 70 points in 75 contests to lead the Bruins in scoring while playing on the first line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, which became known as the "Perfection Line" by media outlets.[18] Additionally, Pastrňák scored two goals and four points for the team during the 2017 playoffs where the Bruins would lose to the Ottawa Senators in six games.
Entering the 2017 off-season, Pastrňák was a restricted free agent. On 14 September 2017, the Bruins re-signed Pastrňák to a six-year, $40 million contract extension worth $6.7 million annually.[19][20]
Towards the end of the 2017–18 season, on 13 March 2018, Pastrňák scored his first NHL hat-trick during a come-from-behind 6–4 Bruins' road win over the Carolina Hurricanes.[21] On 14 April, Pastrňák recorded another hat-trick along with three assists in a 7–3 home win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in game two of the Bruins' first round series during the 2018 playoffs.[22] He also became the youngest player in NHL history to score six points in a single playoff game beating Wayne Gretzky's record.[23] The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games but lost to the top seeded Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the second round.
During the 2018–19 season, Pastrňák played in his first NHL Winter Classic against the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring a goal to help the team win 4–2. On 2 January, it was announced Pastrňák would appear in his first National Hockey League All-Star Game.[24] On 16 January 2019, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Pastrňák became the all-time leader for most goals in Boston Bruins history before the age of 23 passing Barry Pederson.[25] Pastrňák won the 2019NHL All-Star Skills Competition Accuracy Shooting hitting five targets in 11.309 seconds.[26] On 31 January, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Pastrňák scored two goals including his 30th of the season becoming the first player in Bruins history to record three 30+ goal seasons before the age of 23 passing the two of Bobby Orr, Cam Neely and Barry Pederson.[27] However, after recording 66 points so far that season, Pastrňák injured a tendon in his left thumb, and was listed to be out for two weeks.[28] By March 19, Pastrňák's left thumb tendon had healed enough for his return to play, and by his fifth game back from being sidelined, on March 27 he scored his third career hat-trick, his latest coming against the New York Rangers with two assists in setting a career-high five-point night; on the way to a 6–3 Bruins home ice victory.[29] In the 2019 playoffs, Pastrnak and the Bruins would eventually go on to the Stanley Cup Finals in which the Bruins lost in seven games to the St. Louis Blues, one win short from winning the Stanley Cup.[30]
During the pandemic shortened 2020–21 season, Pastrňák scored 20 goals to give him a career regular-season total of exactly 200 by the second to last game of the season on 8 May 2021 against the New York Rangers. In the first game in the second round of the 2021 playoffs, he scored a hat trick against the New York Islanders to help give the Bruins a 1–0 series lead on 29 May.[34] Pastrňák and the Bruins would ultimately be defeated in six games by the Islanders.
In the midst of an historic 2022–23 season, Pastrňák signed a $90 million, eight-year contract extension with the team on March 2, 2023.[35] He finished the season with a career-best 61 goals, 52 assists and 113 points in all 82 games, second in the league in the former (only behind Edmonton Oilers forward and captain Connor McDavid's 64 goals and tied for third in the latter (only behind Connor McDavid's 153 and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov's 113, respectively. The Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy as the best team of the regular season, breaking the league record for both wins and standing points. Pastrňák was widely cited as the highlight player of the team, and was for the first time named a finalist for both the Ted Lindsay Award, voted by the National Hockey League Players Association for the league's most outstanding player, and the Hart Memorial Trophy, voted by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association for the league's most valuable player.[36][37]
Recent years (2023–present)
Pastrňák looked to continue his offensive production from the previous year in the 2023–24 season, and he did just that. In the Bruins opening game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Pastrňák scored two goals to lead the Bruins to a 3-1 victory. Pastrňák continued throughout the year with consistent offensive production, reaching multiple milestones in the process. On 20 January 2024, Pastrňák scored his 30th goal of the season against the rival Montreal Canadiens, which was his seventh career 30-goal season, tying him with Johnny Bucyk for most in Bruins history.[38] On 4 April 2024, Pastrňák scored the 60th game-winning goal of his career against the Carolina Hurricanes, tying him with Ray Bourque for the fifth most in Bruins history. Pastrňák was also named to his second consecutive All-Star Game, where he was drafted by Team McDavid. He would score two goals and an assist in the semi-final against Bruins teammate Jeremy Swayman and Team MacKinnon. Pastrňák would be held scoreless in the championship game, which saw Team McDavid win 5-0. Pastrňák finished the 2023–24 season with 47 goals, 63 assists and 110 points in all 82 contests played. Pastrňák, like most star players, was expected to elevate his game come playoffs, but even with two goals and two assists throughout the first six games of the Bruins first round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, many expected Pastrňák to contribute more. After a Game 6 loss that saw the Leafs force a decisive Game 7, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery called out Pastrňák, saying that he "needs to step up."[39] Pastrňák responded by scoring the series-winning goal in overtime in Game 7, and advancing the Bruins to the second round of the playoffs and a rematch with the Panthers.
He played at the 2024 IIHF World Championship with Czechia and won a gold medal, scored the winning goal in the final and was also named player of the game.[41]
Personal life
Pastrňák and his girlfriend, Rebecca Rohlsson, had a son Viggo Rohl Pastrňák who was born on June 17, 2021 and died six days later.[42] In June 2023, Pastrňák and his girlfriend announced the birth of a daughter Freya Ivy Pastrňák born on June 8, 2023.[43]
In August 2024 they were married in Croatia.[44]
^"Bruins Sign David Pastrnak to 6-Year Contract Worth $40 Million". nhl.com/bruins. Boston Bruins. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017. Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, September 14, that the team has signed forward David Pastrnak to a six-year contract through the 2022-23 season worth an average annual value of $6.67 million.
^Dusterberg, Kurt (14 March 2018). "Bruins rally past Hurricanes, gain in Atlantic". nhl.com. National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018. David Pastrnak scored his first NHL hat trick, including the game-winning goal, and the Boston Bruins rallied from three goals down in the third period to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 at PNC Arena on Tuesday
^Tolvo, Michael (28 March 2019). "Pastrnak's Career Night Paces Bruins To Win Over Rangers". nhl.com/bruins. National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019. In his first four games back from a thumb injury, David Pastrnak showed a bit of rust...On Wednesday night against the New York Rangers, Pastrnak showed no such signs...Pastrnak's final stat line of three goals and two assists marked a regular season career-high for points.
^Regan, J.J. (13 June 2019). "Caps fans should be happy the Blues won the Stanley Cup". NBC Sports Washington. Retrieved 14 June 2019. Of the five other expansion teams in their division, the Blues are the only team still in existence that had not won a Cup. The only other team that did not was the Oakland Seals.
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