This year's first overall Boston Bruins pick in the NHL draft, David Pastrnak, had missed much of the Bruins training camp and preseason before he was finally cleared to play Friday night against the Islanders.
His long awaited return had been pushed back by lingering tightness and minor swelling in the 18 year old’s shoulder. The injury had first been suffered in just the second practice of the season and had prevented Pasternak from competing for a roster spot in the same way that some of his teammates like Ryan Spooner and David Warsofsky did.
However, the argument could be made that all his absence from preseason has done is drop Pastrnak, who started off as the number one pick in the Bruins draft class, to the same level as all who compete with him for one of the open spots at forward.
“He's got as much of a chance of sticking here as anybody else.” Coach, Claude Julian said prior to Friday’s preseason game. “I guess watching him and trying to make an educated decision after it's all said and done is what we'll have to do.”
Pasternak did not score in that game but did manage to assist on two Ryan Spooner goals.
“I’m just going to try to do my best and enjoy the game and we'll see what happens after that. I will play like it's going to be my last game and I'm going to leave everything [out there].” Pastrnak said.
The Bruins play their final preseason game of 2014 Saturday afternoon in Detroit. Following his pain free start verses the Islanders; Julian announced Saturday morning that Pastrnak would remain in the lineup.
Pastrnak will play on the 3rd line in the game. If the lineup stays as it was Friday, he will be skating alongside Alexander Kolchenkov and Danial Pallie.
“I mean, there's a player who we know has got a lot of skills, he's had great success at the World Juniors and that,” said Julien. “You know, you watch him in practice and you see his speed, skill level, hockey sense - it's a guy that you are excited to see in a position where hopefully he can showcase all of that stuff, so I'm excited to watch him tonight, no doubt.”
Claude Julian seems to be excited about the prospect of Pastrnak joining the team this week. As for his chances this season, an inexperienced Pastrnak was given a gift Saturday morning when major competitor Jordan Caron was placed on waivers and Julian apparently diminished the magnitude of Ryan Spooner’s two goals against the Islanders by saying “it was just against AHL guys.”
David Pastrnak has a huge upside for the Bruins and yet at the same time the team understands that they must tread carefully. When the preseason ends, Pastrnak will have played just two games and it is no secret that two games’ worth of observations are not a desired sample size.
“Nothing's been ruled out at this point, and I'm being very honest here. We haven't made a decision either way,” said Julian before Friday’s game. “Like I said, we see the potential but yet, you know, we also have to be realistic. He is an 18-year-old, we've got to see how he performs and how he reacts and everything else, so we haven't ruled out anything.”
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