by Dakota Antelman
Bruins general manager, Peter Chiarelli, announced Thursday that rookie forward David Pastrnak will not be returning to the Providence Bruins once his temporary call up ends following Thursday's game.
In accordance with NHL regulations, his contract status will change to "professional" with his salary increasing as well.
Chiarelli explained the deal in a press conference during the first intermission of Thursday's game.
"We scrutinized his play in Providence and really felt that the NHL is a place where he is gonna get the proper physicality and skill of opponents," he said briefly.
Thursday marked Pastrnak's eighth start with the Bruins this season. He entered the game having scored four times while clocking nearly 15 minutes of ice time in each of those games. Still though, many were skeptical of his abilities as well as his longevity within the league.
Notably, Pastrnak did not make it through preseason roster cuts due to fears from coaches that his small stature endangered him as he went against some of the bigger players within the NHL.
After over 20 games in Providence, a tournament's worth of starts for Czech Republic at the World Junior Tournament in Canada, as well as eight starts with the Bruins though, those fears appear to have absolved from the Bruins' mindset.
"He went down there and did what we told him to, that's play hard, play along the walls," Chiarelli said. "Definitely playing without the puck better."
Though Chiarelli admitted that Pastrnak does still have a propensity to put himself in somewhat dangerous situations given his size, the Bruin GM also insisted that his first round draft pick is rapidly gaining physical strength as well asweight.
As for how often he will get to show fans that strength, that was left up in the air even after Chiareli's clarifying media talks.
Speaking on the subject of the fluidity of Pastrnak's role with the team, he said "It dosn't mean he's in the lineup all the time, there may be times where his time dips a little bit, even times where he goes down to Providence for a game or two. But the big takeaway from this should be that he's staying with the team, practicing with the team and hopefully getting some playing time."
Though it remains unclear where among the Bruin’s offensive core Pastrnak will fit, there are few within the Bruins organization, or their fan base, who have much that is negative to say about the team’s youngest and most promising prospect.
"I feel he has done very well in his apprenticeship in Providence which has been huge," Chiarelli said. "He's a good kid."
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