David Pastrnak Ranked First In NHL Network ‘Top 20 Wings’

Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak was ranked first overall in the latest ‘Top 20 Wings’ ranking list by the NHL Network.

Pastrnak’s teammate and fellow Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand was tenth in the annual ranking list that NHL Network hosts Tony Luftman, E.J. Hradek, and Mike Rupp counted down this past Sunday night.

Here’s the criteria used by the NHL Network Panel to rank the wingers:

‘The ability to score thrilling goals, make eye-popping passes, and go to the net with superb skating are the hallmarks of an elite wing. NHL Network producers and analysts chose the top 20 wings in the League right now, and they were revealed Sunday in the second of a nine-part series’

“If it wasn’t for the season Connor McDavid had, this is the Hart Trophy winner for me,” Rupp said of Pastrnak who was a 2023 Hart Trophy (MVP) and the Ted Lindsay award. “When you’re game planning for the Boston Bruins, you’re game planning for (No.) 88, and he still performed. That’s greatness.”

David Pastrnak scored a career-high 61 goals this season and finished second only to Hart Trophy (MVP) favorite Connor McDavid, who led the league in goals with 64 lamplighters. With 52 assists, Pastrnak was tied for third in points (113), with Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, behind McDavid’s teammate Leon Draisaitl who had 128 points, and McDavid, who became just the sixth player to reach the 150-point mark with 153.

Pastrnak, who signed an eight-year, $90 million ($11.25M AAV) extension on March 2, became the first Boston Bruins player since Brad Marchand had 100 points (36 G, 64 A) in the 2018-19 regular season. The 26-year-old, 6-foot-1, 195-pound Pastrnak had the most points by a Boston Bruins player since Adam Oates finished the 1993-94 season with 112 points. He also became the first Bruins player to reach the 50-goal mark since current Boston Bruins team president Cam Neely scored 50 in 49 games of that same 1993-94 regular season.

The NHL betting odds on Pastrnak dethroning Connor McDavid for the Hart and Ted Lindsay may be worth a look, and you can get the best odds on hockey matches at JeffBet.

As for Marchand, Rupp called him an ‘Absolute gamer’:

“I have him up there honestly with Connor McDavid, Matthew Tkachuk as far as the most impactful player to his team on a nightly basis,” Rupp said. “He came off major surgery and was supposed to miss a significant amount of time; he only missed seven games … Brad Marchand, to me, he’s an absolute gamer; at 35, he has a lot of miles on him. This guy impacts the game so much for the Boston Bruins.”

Marchand missed the first two weeks of the season after offseason hip surgery but still finished second on the Bruins with 67 points (21 goals, 46 assists) in 73 games and was tied with Tyler Bertuzzi for the playoff lead with 10 points (four goals, six assists) in seven games. The 35-year-old has scored at least 20 goals for ten straight seasons and was tied with now-former teammate Patrice Bergeron for the second-longest active streak in the NHL before Bergeron retired on July 25. Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has the longest active streak (18).

For the entire list of the NHL Network Top 20 wingers CLICK HERE.