Heading into the 2025-26 season, David Pastrnak was already cemented as one of the greatest players in Boston Bruins’ history. The 29-year-old has long surpassed expectations as the 25th player selected in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and as each season passes, he’s just continuing to climb the Bruins’ and all-time NHL rankings. Tuesday night, when the Bruins beat the New Jersey Devils 4-0 in their final regular-season game, he’d add another feather to his cap.
Heading into the game, Pastrnak was one goal short of 30 and one point shy of 100 for the season. Both marks are impressive under normal circumstances, but their significance in Bruins’ history is what made them worth keeping an eye on after the team already clinched a postseason berth.
Pastrnak notched his 71st assist of the season on the game’s opening goal, officially securing his fourth-consecutive 100-point season. This continues to propel him towards the top of the Bruins’ all-time rankings, as only two other players in Bruins history have reached 100 points in even three consecutive seasons. With his fourth, Pastrnak is now just one season behind Phil Esposito and two behind Bobby Orr for the most consecutive 100-point seasons in franchise history. Even if his streak ends next season, there’s no denying Pastrnak’s legacy in a Bruins uniform will stand the test of time.
Perhaps just as impressive is the fact that Pastrnak, one of the NHL’s elite goal-scorers, actually finished his season in the lead for primary assists in the NHL with 57 on the season. He’s narrowly beating out Connor McDavid, the NHL’s points leader for the 2025-26 campaign, who currently has 55 with one game remaining this season.
Pastrnak Still Chasing Bruins’ Records
Unfortunately for Pastrnak, his impressive season ended a streak of eight straight seasons with at least 30 goals (omitting the 2020-21 shortened season, in which he scored 20 goals in 48 games), as he scored 29 goals this season. The good news, though, is that Pastrnak is still tied for the all-time lead in total seasons with 30-or-more goals alongside Esposito and Rick Middleton, meaning one more such season will give Pastrnak the most in franchise history.
Pastrnak has never won the NHL’s Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the league’s most valuable player, but he’s had a legitimate case over the past few seasons. When looking at Pastrnak’s contributions to the Bruins’ relative to his teammates dating back to the 2022-23 season, it’s clear that he’s been the team’s most dominant offensive talent.
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In 2022-23, the Bruins’ second and third-highest scoring players, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, recorded 67 points and 58 points, respectively. Pastrnak led the team in points with 61 goals and 113 points that season. The following year, Pastrnak would once again edge out the second-and third-place scorers on the Bruins, this time Marchand and Charlie Coyle, by recording 110 points to their 67 and 60 points, respectively. The trend would continue again during the 2024-25 season, with Pastrnak actually recording more points than the second and third-place scorers combined. Pastrnak recorded a cool 106 points, while Morgan Geekie recorded 57 and nobody else on the team broke 50.
This season, the Bruins did admittedly have three 60-point scorers to join Pastrnak, but his 100 points were still 32 points higher than the second-highest point-getter on the team in Geekie. It’s no secret that Pastrnak is an all-time NHL great, but somehow he still feels underrated in the grand scheme of things, given how dominant he’s been over such a prolonged stretch of time.
No. 88 will be hanging in the rafters one day; it’s just a matter of when and not if.
