The Best Player Nobody Is Talking About Enough Heading Into 2026-27.
Four consecutive 100-point seasons. Thirteen years in the NHL. A franchise that has undergone one of the most significant roster overhauls in recent Bruins history around him. And through all of the retool, the departures, the lineup shuffling, David Pastrnak keeps producing at a rate that places him among the most consistent offensive forces the sport has ever seen.
He is 30 years old and entering his 13th NHL season. He is also, if your draft board does not have him inside the top ten, a player you are dramatically undervaluing.
Let us talk about the four-year arc first, because it tells the whole story. In 2022-23, Pastrnak posted a career-best 113 points. The following season brought 110. Then 106 in 2024-25. Then 100 last season…29 goals and a career-high 71 assists in 77 games. Yes, there has been a gentle, steady decline in the headline number over four years. And yes, the goal total last season was the lowest of his prime era at 29 in 77 games, a product of a shooting percentage that dipped below his career norms.
But here is what that narrative misses entirely: his 71 assists last season were the most of his career. He has not lost a step as a playmaker. He has not lost his shot. His underlying numbers remained elite throughout the season, and the players around him, not his own game, have been the primary variable in his declining goal total. Brad Marchand is gone. Several preferred linemates have departed via trade or retirement. The opposition’s defensive game plan has become, as Daily Faceoff bluntly put it, as simple as “stop No. 88.” He has been doing this largely without a true first-line centre beside him for two seasons, and he still hit 100 points.
JJ Peterka arrives from Utah in a trade that cost Boston a 2026 first-round pick and a conditional 2028 first, and his addition to Pastrnak’s right side is the most significant development for Pastrnak’s fantasy outlook in years. Peterka has scored at least 25 goals in each of his last three NHL seasons, is a devastating rush threat, and shoots from the left side, creating an elite right-left shooting combination on the same line that defensive pairs will struggle to neutralise simultaneously. The Boston Globe noted that Peterka and Pastrnak will be the top shooters up front and that whoever wins the quarterback spot on the first power play unit between them will control one of the league’s most dangerous man advantages.
Equally compelling is the Minten angle. The Bruins outscored opponents 22-7 during the 288 five-on-five minutes that Fraser Minten and Pastrnak played together last season, a staggering possession and scoring differential that speaks to what Minten does for Pastrnak’s environment. With Minten now being discussed as a legitimate first-line centre option heading into his second full NHL season, Pastrnak could have his best centreman since the Patrice Bergeron era.
A projection of 35 goals and 68 assists for 103 points across a full 84-game season is the natural outcome of a healthy Pastrnak operating in a better offensive environment than he had last year. The goal total bounces back as his shooting percentage normalises. The assist total takes a modest step back from his career-high as the offensive load is shared more evenly with Peterka. The point total stays comfortably at 100-plus for a fifth consecutive season.
He is a top-ten fantasy pick. He belongs in your first round. Do not let the four-year narrative of gentle decline distract you from what the numbers actually say.
Pasta is still Pasta.
Statistics and roster information sourced from NHL.com, Daily Faceoff, NBC Sports Boston, The Boston Globe, The Hockey News, and Natural Stat Trick, July 2026.
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