NHL’s best players under age 25 for 2017: David Pastrnak ranks No. 5 after big season in Boston

Note: This is SB Nation NHL’s top 25 players under age 25 series! We’ll be covering each player from No. 25 to No. 1 over the next few weeks leading up to training camp time. See the complete list and information on how the rankings were compiled.

The Boston Bruins have always known they’ve had something special in David Pastrnak. It wasn’t until the 2016-17 season when the rest of the NHL realized just how good of a scorer and playmaker the 21-year-old forward is.

Pastrnak was the Bruins’ No. 25 overall pick in the 2014 NHL draft and may be the quintessential definition of a late-first round steal after his first three seasons in the league. While development and injuries kept Pastrnak from a pair of full seasons right after his draft year, the 2016-17 season saw Pastrnak become a mainstay on the Bruins top line alongside Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. And what a line it was, as the trio posted just outside the top 10 in the NHL in line production, according to Left Wing Lock, with 30 goals at even strength.

Individually, Pastrnak was second only to Marchand on the Bruins in points, as the forward put up 70 points in 75 games. His 34 goals and 36 assists were career highs by a mile, and his goal total put him tied for 10th among NHL forwards last season. Pastrnak found a home on the top line thanks in part to his chemistry with Bergeron and Marchand, but his presence was well earned as a young, offensively gifted talent.

And it’s not just on offense where Pastrnak excels. Over his last three seasons, he’s averaged a 55.6 even strength CF% and was one of the Bruins top five possession drivers last year. Alongside Bergeron and Marchand, Pastrnak’s CF% spiked to above 62, according to Natural Stat Trick, and the trio was one of the best possession lines in hockey when on the ice together.

The signs were there in Pastrnak’s previous seasons of a top-line right winger in the making, and the 2016-17 season only proves his supporters correct. While Pastrnak tracks on the older side of these final few spots on our list, there’s no doubt his star is equally as bright as one of the NHL’s best young talents for years to come.

Pastrnak’s offensive skills are the perfect fit for the Bruins’ top line, and it’ll no doubt be where he remains as a full-time member of the Boston organization down the road.

Before his time in the NHL, Pastrnak spent time on the Czech Republic U16 and U18 teams, along with stints in the SuperElit and Allsvenskan leagues in Sweden. In fact, before being drafted by the Bruins, Pastrnak had yet to play hockey full-time on North American ice.

Pastrnak spent very little time in the AHL, with only 28 games played across two seasons for the Providence Bruins, where he put up 32 total points. While he made his debut with the Bruins in 2014 just after being drafted at 18, Pastrnak played only 46 games at the NHL level, where he put up 27 points.

In 2015-16, injuries kept Pastrnak to just 51 games for the Bruins, where he posted 26 points but became a fan favorite in no time due to his potential. Last season was when Pastrnak came into his own as a member of the Bruins, as he became the youngest Bruin to score 30 goals in a season at 20 years and 291 days.

Outside of his NHL accomplishments, Pastrnak has a 2014 World U18 tournament silver medal under his belt with his time on the Czech Republic national team.

While there is some uncertainty about Pastrnak’s current future with the Bruins, as he’s yet to sign a contract for the upcoming season, he’s clearly penciled in as a leader with the organization for seasons to come. As a restricted free agent, Pastrnak and the Bruins are still talking contract terms, and that’s lead to some rumors about an offseason trade that general manager Don Sweeney denied last week.

Given the lack of recent offer sheets and that there’s no real urgency for the Bruins to trade Pastrnak given how much cap space they command, the 21-year-old could sit out the start of the season depending on how contract talks go. While it would hurt the Bruins in the short-term, locking up Pastrnak for the long run is the more important task.

When Pastrnak re-signs, there’s no reason for the Bruins to move him off of the top-line spot he’s carved for himself alongside Bergeron and Marchand. The chemistry and the production is too great for the Bruins to do anything other than give Pastrnak more minutes across the board, as last season he averaged a second under 18 minutes a night. In the postseason, that number went up to 21 minutes a night. Given his near point-per-game production from last season, a happy medium between the two is likely.

Pastrnak can very likely hit 40 goals on the season given the production he achieves on the Bruins’ top line. His shooting percentage of a flat 13 seems to lie near the median of the NHL’s top scorers from last year, making it easier for him to sustain his offensive production compared to others that shot the lights out last season.

A No. 5 ranking feels right for Pastrnak, who has been building to a breakout year since his rookie season with the Bruins in 2014. It’s likely you can guess the remaining top young players on this list based on process of elimination, and Pastrnak sitting at the fifth overall spot is a solid indicative of his skills as a forward in the NHL.

Pastrnak will no doubt have to build on his exceptional 2016-17 season if he wants to stay this high in future rankings, and he’ll likely be coming off a big contract within the coming months to bolster his upcoming season. Overall, Pastrnak’s well-rounded skills make him one of the NHL’s best young two-way players, and with a wicked scoring edge to boot.

Highest rank: No. 3
Lowest rank: Not ranked.