Atlantic Division Preview: How will the Bruins score when David Pastrnak isn’t on the ice?

David Pastrnak operates as a one-man offence unto himself, which isn’t necessarily the best outcome for the Boston Bruins. Pastrnak is a superstar, recording three consecutive 105-point seasons, while the Bruins transition out of their contending years, reluctantly fight off the urge towards a full-fledged rebuild. And while the 29-year-old is an elite shooter and creator, he may be on an island by himself, as the Bruins simply couldn’t score without him on the ice. How will the Bruins navigate this challenge going into the 2025-26 campaign?

Pastrnak recorded 43 goals and 106 points, which represented greater than 47 percent of the Bruins’ offence last season. This ought to ring alarm bells for the Bruins, who are once again running the risk of exhausting their best player. Morgan Geekie benefited from Pastrnak’s playmaking, recording a career-high 33 goals at an unsustainable 22 percent shooting clip. Elias Lindholm is looking for revenge after a 47-point campaign last season. Geekie-Lindholm-Pastrnak outscored opponents 16-4 at 5-on-5 last season with 64.3 percent of the expected goals in just under 94 minutes shared together. These are terrific numbers in a small sample. Again, the only problem: who else is going to score for the Bruins, and will Pastrnak once again outscore everyone on the team by nearly 50 points?

Pavel Zacha has shown flashes of further scoring touch, but he’s firmly in his prime and hasn’t scored more than 21 goals in a season. Casey Mittelstadt will never reach the lofty heights expected of him coming out of the 2017 NHL Draft. Viktor Arvidsson is two years removed from a 59-point campaign, but there’s a good chance the 32-year-old never comes close to that level of production again. Fraser Minten is a clever NHL player on Boston’s third line, but he’s better known for his defensive acumen rather than his scoring touch. Boston added a number of players with minimal offensive talent in Tanner Jeannot and Mikey Eyssimont, prioritizing the vague idea of toughness rather than skill. Aside from their first line led by Pastrnak, the Bruins may be rolling out one of the NHL’s worst offences this year.

James Hagens is an extremely talented offensive player who could fight for a roster spot, although it’s more likely that the Bruins allow him to star in the NCAA once again before graduating to the NHL with an immediate scoring-line role. Aside from calling up Hagens or making a seismic trade, there appear to be few legitimate scoring options for the Bruins.

Winning is the only thing that matters for the Bruins, but their contention era is long over. It may be in their best interest to bottom out, with Gavin McKenna and Landon DuPont headlining the 2026 and 2027 NHL Drafts, respectively. Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman are the last building blocks from the title-contending era, but this Bruins team is going to struggle to put pucks in the net. Who is going to step up, aside from David Pastrnak?