David Pastrnak didn’t quite know what to expect from his busy schedule on NHL All-Star weekend. But the Bruins’ star had one specific goal for Thursday’s All-Star Draft that will determine the four 3-on-3 teams that will compete on Saturday.
“Hopefully won’t be the last pick,” Pastrnak, the MVP of the 2020 All-Star event, said smiling.
That seems pretty unlikely. Ranked third in the NHL in both goals (33) and points (39) going into Tuesday’s action, he’s more likely to go in the top three than the bottom three. The NHL is returning to a draft format after creating teams by division in recent years. The league did a draft from 2011-15, but that was for 5-on-5 games. Pastrnak said he hadn’t paid close attention at that point. This year, the league has named four captains and assistant captains, who will choose their teams schoolyard style.
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“I know they used to do it back in the day. so it’s definitely something exciting that they’re bringing back. I don’t really know what to expect,” said Pastrnak, who’ll be an All-Star for the fourth time. “I was pretty young when it was still the draft and I didn’t look at it. So, excited for it. Hopefully, it’s gonna be a fun evening.”
The captains who’ll be making the picks are:
- Auston Matthews with assistant captain Morgan Rielly
- Connor McDavid with Leon Draisaitl
- Nathan MacKinnon with Cale Makar
- Jack Hughes (who is injured and can’t play) with Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson
They’ll be picking from a pool that includes Pastrnak as well as:
Frank Vatrano (Anaheim), Clayton Keller (Arizona), Jeremy Swayman (Boston), Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo), Elias Lindholm (Calgary), Sebastian Aho (Carolina), Alexandar Georgiev (Colorado), Boone Jenner (Columbus), Jake Oettinger (Dallas), Alex DeBrincat (Detroit)
Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida), Sam Reinhart (Florida), Cam Talbot (Los Angeles), Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota), Nick Suzuki (Montreal), Filip Forsberg (Nashville), Mathew Barzal (Islanders), Vincent Trocheck (Rangers), Igor Shesterkin(Rangers), Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa)
Travis Konecny (Philadelphia), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh), Tomas Hertl (San Jose), Oliver Bjorkstrand (Seattle), Robert Thomas (St. Louis), Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), Mitchell Marner (Toronto), William Nylander(Toronto), Brock Boeser (Vancouver), Thatcher Demko (Vancouver),
J.T. Miller (Vancouver), Tom Wilson (Washington), Kyle Connor (Winnipeg), Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
The draft will be the start of a busy stretch in Toronto for the Bruins’ 27-year-old star. He’ll compete for $1 million in the newly constituted skills competition on Friday and the games on Saturday.
Pastrnak was thankful that, unlike some of his fellow participants, he had time off before the event. The NHL had games well into this week, with six teams scheduled to play on Wednesday night. Pastrnak was glad the Bruins have been off since Saturday’s game at Philadelphia before heading to Toronto for the festivities.
“With the timing, I’ve been a little bit unlucky (in the past),” he said. “This year I still get some time with the family and get out to somewhere warm. I get to spend time with my fiancée and my daughter which is amazing. I still get a chance to enjoy some sun before heading to Toronto.”
He was looking forward to both the time off and headed to Toronto with teammate and fellow All-Star Jeremy Swayman.
“Thanks to all my teammates. Me and Sway wouldn’t be there without them so big thanks to these guys. It’s exciting times,” he said. “Always a fun weekend. Excited to hang out with the guys around the league who are the best players. Can’t wait.”
In the skills competition, Pastrnak will choose four of six events to amass a score good enough to advance to the next round. He’ll pick from:
- Fastest Skater
- Hardest Shot
- Passing Challenge
- One Timers
- Stick Handling
- Shooting Accuracy
The top eight scores will advance to the second round which is the One-on-One competition where they choose which goalie they want to shoot on.
The top six move on to the final, which is the Obstacle Course.
He’ll compete against: Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado), Cale Makar (Colorado), Connor McDavid (Edmonton), Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton), Mathew Barzal (Islanders), Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), Auston Matthews (Toronto), William Nylander (Toronto), Quinn Hughes (Vancouver), J.T. Miller (Vancouver) and Elias Pettersson (Vancouver).
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