David Pastrà Âák (; born 25 May 1996) is a Czech professional ice hockey player who is a right winger and alternate captain for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Pasta", Pastrà Âák was selected by the Bruins in the first round, 25th overall, of the 2014 NHL entry draft and made his NHL debut that year. Internationally, Pastrà Âák has played for the Czech Republic national team at both the junior and senior level, including at four World Championships.
David Pastrà Âák was born on 25 May 1996 in HavÃÂà Âov, Czech Republic, to father Milan Pastrà Âák and mother Marcela Ziembova. He first became interested in hockey through his father, who was a professional player and later a coach. He began skating when he was three years old. Milan left the family and moved to Karviná when Pastrà Âák was three years old, and after that Pastrà Âák spent weekends with his father. For most of his childhood, he lived with his mother and older brother in a two-bedroom apartment.
When he was 13 years old, Pastrà Âák got an agent and his hockey equipment was paid for; this reduced the financial stress on his family. At age 15, Pastrà Âák moved to the nearby town of Tà Âinec, where he lived alone in a hotel room. This was considered a test to ensure that Pastrà Âák could move to Sweden the next year. During the 2011âÂÂ12 season, Pastrà Âák led the Czech under-18 league in goals (41) and points (68). For the 2012âÂÂ13 season, Pastrà Âák moved to Sweden to play for the junior squad of Södertälje SK. While in Södertälje, Pastrà Âák learned to speak English and Swedish, and started to watch NHL games for the first time. In May 2013, just before Pastrà Âák's 17th birthday, Milan died after a years-long battle with skin cancer. Grieving his father's death, Pastrà Âák intensified his training.
For the 2013âÂÂ14 season, Pastrà Âák was promoted to Södertälje SK's senior team in Allsvenskan, Sweden's second-highest professional league. He led his team in points, scoring 8 goals and 16 assists in 36 games, though he missed part of the season due to a concussion.
After being drafted by the Boston Bruins with the 25th pick overall in the 2014 NHL entry draft, Pastrà Âák signed a three-year, entry-level contract on 15 July 2014. Pastrà Âák attended the Bruins' training camp for the 2014âÂÂ15 season before being assigned to the Providence Bruins, the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, on 7 October 2014. He made his NHL debut with the Bruins on 24 November, logging 7:53 of ice time in a 3âÂÂ2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored the first two goals of his NHL career against Ray Emery on 10 January 2015, as the initial pair of goals resulting in a 3âÂÂ1 Bruins' road win over the Philadelphia Flyers. On 29 March, Pastrà Âák became the youngest Bruins' player in history to score an overtime, game-winning goal in regular season play in Boston's 2âÂÂ1 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes. At the end of the season, he was one of just two players selected in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft to play in more than 40 NHL games during the 2014âÂÂ15 season, and along with fellow Bruins' rookie Ryan Spooner, led the team in offense during the last 20 games of the season.
During a Bruins' regular season home game in the 2015âÂÂ16 season, against the Penguins on 24 February 2016, Pastrà Âák became the youngest Bruins' player ever to score a penalty shot goal, which he scored only four minutes into the game, as the first goal en route to a 5âÂÂ1 Bruins' defeat of the Penguins. His popularity in Boston has led to Bruins' fans giving him the nickname "Pasta".
On 28 October 2016, Pastrà Âák was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of New York Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi. The 2016âÂÂ17 season proved to be a breakout year for Pastrà Âák, who recorded 34 goals and 36 assists for 70 points in 75 contests to lead the Bruins in scoring while playing on the first line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, which became known as the "Perfection Line" by media outlets. Additionally, Pastrà Âák scored two goals and four points for the team during the 2017 playoffs where the Bruins would lose to the Ottawa Senators in six games.
Entering the 2017 off-season, Pastrà Âák was a restricted free agent. On 14 September 2017, the Bruins re-signed Pastrà Âák to a six-year, $40 million contract extension worth $6.7 million annually. Towards the end of the 2017âÂÂ18 season, on 13 March 2018, Pastrà Âák scored his first NHL hat-trick during a come-from-behind 6âÂÂ4 Bruins' road win over the Carolina Hurricanes. On 14 April, Pastrà Âák recorded another hat-trick along with three assists in a 7âÂÂ3 home win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in game 2 of the Bruins' first-round series during the 2018 playoffs. He also became the youngest player in NHL history to score six points in a single playoff game beating Wayne Gretzky's record. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games but lost to the top seeded Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the second round.
During the 2018âÂÂ19 season, Pastrà Âák played in his first NHL Winter Classic against the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring a goal to help the team win 4âÂÂ2. On 2 January, it was announced Pastrà Âák would appear in his first National Hockey League All-Star Game. On 16 January 2019, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Pastrà Âák became the all-time leader for most goals in Boston Bruins history before the age of 23 passing Barry Pederson. Pastrà Âák won the 2019 NHL All-Star Skills Competition Accuracy Shooting hitting five targets in 11.309 seconds. On 31 January, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Pastrà Âák scored two goals including his 30th of the season becoming the first player in Bruins history to record three 30+ goal seasons before the age of 23 passing the two of Bobby Orr, Cam Neely and Barry Pederson. However, after recording 66 points so far that season, Pastrà Âák injured a tendon in his left thumb, and was listed to be out for two weeks. By March 19, Pastrà Âák's left thumb tendon had healed enough for his return to play, and by his fifth game back from being sidelined, on March 27 he scored his third career hat-trick, his latest coming against the New York Rangers with two assists in setting a career-high five-point night; on the way to a 6âÂÂ3 Bruins home ice victory. In the 2019 playoffs, Pastrnak and the Bruins would eventually go on to the Stanley Cup Finals in which the Bruins lost in seven games to the St. Louis Blues, one win short from winning the Stanley Cup.
On 14 October 2019, Pastrà Âák scored all four Bruins goals in a victory over the Anaheim Ducks, making him the 25th player in Bruins history to score four goals in one game. In the 2019âÂÂ20 NHL season (which ended three weeks earlier than planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pastrà Âák finished with 48 goals tied with Washington Capitals forward and captain Alexander Ovechkin for most goals in the NHL making him the first Bruins player to win the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy since it was created in 1999.
During the pandemic shortened 2020âÂÂ21 season, Pastrà Âák scored 20 goals to give him a career regular-season total of exactly 200 by the second to last game of the season on 8 May 2021 against the New York Rangers. In the first game in the second round of the 2021 playoffs, he scored a hat trick against the New York Islanders to help give the Bruins a 1âÂÂ0 series lead on 29 May. Pastrà Âák and the Bruins would ultimately be defeated in six games by the Islanders.
In the midst of an historic 2022âÂÂ23 season, Pastrà Âák signed a $90 million, eight-year contract extension with the team on 2 March 2023. He finished the season with a career-best 61 goals, 52 assists and 113 points in all 82 games, second in the league in the former (only behind Edmonton Oilers forward and captain Connor McDavid's 64 goals and tied for third in the latter (only behind Connor McDavid's 153 and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov's 113, respectively. The Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy as the best team of the regular season, breaking the league record for both wins and standing points. Pastrà Âák was widely cited as the highlight player of the team, and was for the first time named a finalist for both the Ted Lindsay Award, voted by the National Hockey League Players' Association for the league's most outstanding player, and the Hart Memorial Trophy, voted by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association for the league's most valuable player.
Pastrà Âák looked to continue his offensive production from the previous year in the 2023âÂÂ24 season, and he did just that. In the Bruins opening game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Pastrà Âák scored two goals to lead the Bruins to a 3âÂÂ1 victory. Pastrà Âák continued throughout the year with consistent offensive production, reaching multiple milestones in the process. On 20 January 2024, Pastrà Âák scored his 30th goal of the season against the rival Montreal Canadiens, which was his seventh career 30-goal season, tying him with Johnny Bucyk for most in Bruins history. On 4 April, Pastrà Âák scored the 60th game-winning goal of his career against the Carolina Hurricanes, tying him with Ray Bourque for the fifth most in Bruins history. Pastrà Âák was also named to his second consecutive All-Star Game, where he was drafted by Team McDavid. He would score two goals and an assist in the semifinal against Bruins teammate Jeremy Swayman and Team MacKinnon. Pastrà Âák was scoreless in the championship game, which saw Team McDavid win 5âÂÂ0. Pastrà Âák finished the 2023âÂÂ24 season with 47 goals, 63 assists and 110 points in all 82 contests played. Pastrà Âák, like most star players, was expected to elevate his game come playoffs, but even with two goals and two assists throughout the first six games of the Bruins first-round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, many expected Pastrà Âák to contribute more. After a game 6 loss that saw the Leafs force a decisive game 7, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery called out Pastrà Âák, saying that he "needs to step up." Pastrà Âák responded by scoring the series-winning goal in overtime in game 7, and advancing the Bruins to the second round of the 2024 playoffs and a rematch with the Panthers, where they would lose in six games.
Pastrà Âák and the Bruins once again entered the season with high expectations in 2024âÂÂ25. Unfortunately, although Pastrà Âák would exceed these expectations, the Bruins did not. Pastrà Âák once broke the forty-goal, 100-point mark on an abysmal Bruins team. It was his third season in a row reaching the 100-point total, becoming the first Czech-born player to accomplish the feat. He also became the third Bruins player to do so as well, joing team legends Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. It was also his fifth season scoring 40+ goals, tying him with Rick Middleton for second-most in Bruins history. Pastrà Âák also recorded two hat-tricks during the season to add to his career total, which stood at 19 at season's end, the second most in Bruins history, and seven behind Esposito. After the deadline, with captain Brad Marchand was traded and defenseman Charlie McAvoy recovering from a long-term injury, Pastrà Âák became the only Bruins player on the ice to wear a letter on his sweater, wearing the alternate captain patch, and essentially serving as the "de facto" leader on the team. The trade of Marchand also made Pastrà Âák the longest tenured Bruin, as well as the longest tenured Boston athlete, as he had been with the team since 2014. Arguably the most impressive feat of Pastrà Âák's season came late, with the Bruins all but surely out of the playoff picture, Pastrà Âák did not slack off or give up. In five games between 1 and 8 April 2025, Pastrà Âák either scored or assisted on 13 consecutive Bruins goals, the longest such streak in Bruins history, and tied for the third longest streak in league history. It was only the fifth time in NHL history that a player had a streak that long, and Pastrà Âák joined legends of the game JaromÃÂr Jágr, Mario Lemieux, and Wayne Gretzky as the only players to ever accomplish such a feat. Pastrà Âák finished the season on a 10-game point streak, recording nine goals and 13 assists in that time. Pastrà Âák's high level of play on a lackluster Bruins team had many people believing that he should be given strong consideration for the Hart Memorial Trophy. He ended the season with 43 goals and 63 assists for 106 points, leading the Bruins in all categories and tying him for third in the league for points, and an outright seventh in assists.
During the 2025âÂÂ26 season, Pastrà Âák joined Bobby Orr and Ken Hodge as the only three players in Bruins history to record six assists in a game following a 10âÂÂ2 win against the New York Rangers on 10 January 2026. Despite a slight decline in goal-scoring in March, Pastrà Âák continued to dish out assists during an eight-game goal drought, uncharacteristic for him. However, after breaking the drought against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 8, Pastrà Âák got back in the groove, scoring four goals goals and six assists over six games. On March 16, Pastrà Âák opened the scoring in a game against the New Jersey Devils, registering his 80th point of the season. The point gave him the seventh 80-point season of his career, joining JaromÃÂr Jágr as the only Czech players with the accomplishment.
Pastrà Âák has represented the Czech Republic's national teams at every level and has led his team in scoring numerous times. He won bronze at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and in 2014 he won silver at the 2014 World U18 Championships. In 2016, he joined the Czech Republic senior team for the first time at the 2016 World Championship where the team finished fifth. He also represented the Czech Republic at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Following the Bruins' defeat by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the 2018 playoffs, Pastrà Âák was invited to participate at the 2018 World Championship.
He played at the 2024 World Championship with the Czech Republic and won a gold medal, scored the winning goal in the final and was also named player of the game.
On 28 April 2025, after much speculation about his participation, it was announced Pastrà Âák would once again join the Czech Republic for the 2025 World Championship. Although the Czech team was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the playoff round, Pastrà Âák led the tournament in scoring with six goals and nine assists in eight games, being named the best forward at the tournament, as well as to the tournament all-star team.
On 16 June 2025, it was announced that Pastrà Âák was one of the first six players named to represent the Czech Republic at the 2026 Winter Olympics, marking the first time he will represent the team at the Olympic stage. Pastrà Âák was one of two Czech flag bearers at the opening ceremony, the other being Lucie Charvátová.
Pastrà Âák and his girlfriend, Rebecca Rohlsson, had a son Viggo Rohl Pastrà Âák who was born on June 17, 2021 and died six days later. In June 2023, Pastrà Âák and his girlfriend announced the birth of a daughter Freya Ivy Pastrà Âák born on June 8, 2023. In August 2024 they were married in Croatia.
Bold indicates led league
Bold indicates led tournament