Thursday night (Jan. 4), the NHL named the first 16 2024 Eastern Conference All-Stars that will play take the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto as part of the three days of festivities from Feb. 1-3. The Atlantic Division All-Stars were released and the Boston Bruins had David Pastrnak selected to play in the All-Star Game.
In 36 games this season, the 2019-20 co-winner of the Maurice Rocket Richard Award had 22 goals and 28 assists, with seven goals and 15 assists on the power play. he is averaging 1.39 points a game this season and leads the Black and Gold in goals, assists, and points. This is the fourth All-Star Game for Pastrnak and last season he was joined by goaltender Linus Ullmark and his head coach, Jim Montgomery.
Pastrnak Deserving of All-Star Honor
Pastrnak being named is no surprise as he is the Bruins leading scorer and best forward. He is on pace for another 50-goal season, although reaching his career-high of 61 from 2022-23 is going to take a lot of goals in bunches to reach. He has been a big part of the Bruins’ success this season scoring a lot of key goals. He had two second-period goals, one even strength and one on the power play, in a four-goal second period against the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 30 in a 5-2 Boston win at the TD Garden.
This season Pastrnak is averaging 19:38 in time-on-ice, which is a career-high and he has 174 shots landed on the net. He entered Thursday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins tied for sixth in the NHL with his 22 goals with Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers.
Whether or not Pastrnak is the only Bruins player to make the mid-season game remains to be seen. There will be a fan vote to determine other All-Stars. Who that could be remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see another member of the Bruins head to Toronto with Pastrnak.
