Bruins' David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie were the few sure things in 2024-25

New York Times

16-04-2025

BOSTON — David Pastrnak has known for weeks that Game 82 would be the end of the line for the Boston Bruins. But when the end came Tuesday in a 5-4 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils, the reality of the situation hit Pastrnak hard.
For the first time since 2015-16, Pastrnak will not be playing on following the conclusion of the regular season. Meanwhile, the Devils and 15 other teams still have work to do.
Advertisement
'I want to keep playing as a player,' Pastrnak said. 'We'll leave it at that, I guess.'
Pastrnak once took postseason participation as a given. He went to the playoffs eight straight times, and not necessarily as the lead dog. Pastrnak had company, from Zdeno Chara to Patrice Bergeron to David Krejci to Brad Marchand.
But the infrastructure around Pastrnak has crumbled to the point where he can barely recognize his surroundings. Consider that Pastrnak was the only player in uniform for the Bruins on Tuesday who had shared ice time with Chara, who wrapped up his Black-and-Gold run in 2020. Everybody else arrived after Chara, including players who got only NHL sniffs this season because of the depth of roster deconstruction.
John Farinacci and Frederic Brunet were the latest. Both made their NHL debuts Tuesday. They would never have left Providence if not for management's decision to cut so deep.
'They had an opportunity this year to get their feet wet in the National Hockey League,' interim coach Joe Sacco said, referring not only to Farinacci and Brunet but Fabian Lysell and Fraser Minten. 'Maybe under the circumstances, if they were different, they might not get that chance.'
It was a goosebumps debut for Farinacci, who played right wing on the fourth line. The native of Red Bank, N.J., has local ties. He went to prep school at Dexter Southfield. He played at Harvard. His uncle is Harvard coach Ted Donato, who attended Tuesday's game. In the second period, Farinacci scored his first career goal by slamming home a net-front rebound.
'That was awesome,' Farinacci said. 'That was a pinch-me moment, for sure.'
FARINACCI'S FIRST 🚨 pic.twitter.com/lc9Eiadu4i
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 16, 2025
Farinacci, 24, is dreaming he can stick around for good in 2025-26 as a fourth-liner and penalty killer. Lysell, 22, hopes he can stretch his 12-game audition into a permanent spot next year, perhaps as the No. 2 right wing behind Pastrnak. Minten, 20, would like to be in the NHL as a second-year pro. The odds are against the 21-year-old Brunet developing enough defensive stoutness to become a full-time NHLer next season, but he has some up-ice skill that can catch coaches' attention.
Advertisement
The Bruins should also get a good player in the 2025 NHL Draft. They are guaranteed to finish no better than fifth-worst in the NHL. A top-five selection should be an impact player.
But they are all question marks. Nobody, from Sacco to general manager Don Sweeney to anyone else in the organization, can project with certainty whether any of the hopefuls can spin their dreams into reality anytime soon.
The truth of the matter is that the Bruins are short on NHL sure things to a degree that Sweeney has never experienced since becoming GM in 2015. Just about the only thing Sweeney can guarantee for 2025-26, assuming good health, is Pastrnak leading the offense yet again.
No. 88 capped off the season with his 43rd goal with a close-range tuck behind Jake Allen. Pastrnak is automatic offense, now a threat to set up goals just as often as he scores them.
That is because Morgan Geekie is making a strong case to be Pastrnak's permanent linemate. Geekie, named NESN's Seventh Player of the Year on Tuesday for performing beyond expectations, clapped home his career-best 33rd goal in the first period.
Geekie scored on what has become a trademark sequence: Pastrnak controlling the puck on the right side and snapping a slot-line pass to Geekie for a one-timer. This time, Geekie was positioned beyond his preferred launchpad. But even from above the top of the left circle, Geekie got enough behind his one-timer to beat Allen from distance.
'Just not be afraid to shoot,' Geekie said of his approach this year. 'I've always had a good shot. You always start deferring, especially when you play with guys that produce. You get in spots where you don't expect to score. There's pucks that have went in for me this year that maybe don't in other years. It's just having a shoot-first mentality. Dave's been unbelievable.'
Advertisement
Sweeney's job is to unearth other partnerships besides the Pastrnak-Geekie combination that can pull the Bruins forward in years to come. It could be Lysell working with Pavel Zacha. Or Minten finding third-line chemistry with Marat Khusnutdinov.
There is a lot of work to do.