Pastrnak has nagging injury behind him, embracing expectations for Bruins

BOSTON -- The past few offseasons haven’t entirely been kind to David Pastrnak, with the Boston Bruins forward having to wrap training around injury concerns, including the knee tendinitis that caused him to miss the start of training camp a year ago. 

But the focus was back where Pastrnak likes it to be the past few months -- on family and training, without any of the pesky rehab.

“It was the best summer out of the past three years,” he said Thursday after the Bruins opened training camp. “There was hiccups, obviously, but the best summer out of the past two, three summers.”

The knee had been a nagging issue for Pastrnak, something he played with in 2024-25 and had to manage into last season. Which was why it was so refreshing that he was able to mostly avoid that and get back to his preferred off-season regimen. 

“It’s awesome,” Pastrnak said. “I love running and I wasn’t able to run a lot (in previous summers) or play tennis. Tennis -- it might sound silly to you guys -- but it’s a big part of my training and I spent on the court a bunch of hours, so it was really nice to be back there. Overall, I think it’s great for reaction and you get the sprints there, so a little different conditioning.”

Pastrnak, who turned 30 on May 25, knows that this will be a big season for the Bruins, with expectations raised after their 100-point season and appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ahead of where expectations had put them. He also knows that time is marching on, with his goal of winning the Cup yet unfulfilled.

“I’m very hungry,” he said. “Obviously very hungry to get back, to get another bite at it. It’s been a while. So, obviously I would lie if that wouldn’t be in the back of my head.”

He knows that the rest of the Atlantic Division has also improved. Nothing will come easy. 

“To be honest, there’s no room for mistakes in our division,” Pastrnak said. “Everybody’s getting better, including us. The 100 points is the new 90 points to make the playoffs, I would say, and like I said, not much room to make mistakes in any game. The season’s two games longer, so you’re going to be dialed in for every game.”

Helping that along is the fact that the Bruins are in their second season with Marco Sturm at the helm. Unlike last season, they will not be learning a new system or how to navigate new expectations. 

“It makes it so much easier,” Pastrnak said. “Obviously, the system change was a big step last year, right? It was a little different and it took us a while to figure it out and now it’s the second year, there’s no excuses. Now it’s about executing and work on the details of the system and, like I said, the first month and a half, I would say, of last year was big learning and changeup for us, I think as players, so there’s definitely no excuse this year. 

“We’re gonna be ready and dialed from the get-go.”

There is, though, one major change ahead. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said on Wednesday they intend to name a captain for this season ahead of their opener against the New York Rangers on Sept. 29, with Pastrnak as one of the leading candidates, along with defenseman Charlie McAvoy.

Pastrnak demurred, saying only that the team is focused on getting ready for the season. 

“As of now, that’s not our job to do,” he said. “I’m here to do my job, whatever it is.”

Which, primarily, is to put points on the board. 

Pastrnak is coming off his fourth straight 100-point season, with 100 points (29 goals, 71 assists) in 77 games in 2025-26. The totals marked both a career high in assists, besting the 63 he had in each of the two seasons prior, and the lowest goal total he’s had since his 20 in 48 games in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.

“I would love to score goals again, obviously, but you guys know how I feel about playmaking: I love it,” he said. “I have no problem. I will always pass if I see a guy in better position to score than me. So yeah, of course everybody wants to score goals, that’s what’s the beauty part about it, but at the same time, whatever role -- I would love to do both.”

Some of that could depend on who ends up on his line, whether that’s Morgan Geekie, whose goal totals have expanded in the past few seasons -- “his shot and the release that he has is outstanding,” Pastrnak noted -- whether that’s newcomer JJ Peterka or someone else. 

“He still finished up with a lot of goals,” Sturm said. “He can do it all. I’m not at that point where I say he’s going to drive me crazy because he’s not shooting enough. I’m not there at that point yet. Even last year, I was never – there were a few times of course I’m like, I wished that maybe he could shoot the puck more, but then all of a sudden he makes an unbelievable play and his linemate scores. 

“You’ve got to be really careful with him because he’s such a good player, he’s so smart, and he creates so much because he’s that good.”