BOSTON -- They approached him on the patio of a bar back home in the Czech Republic, while David Pastrnak was relaxing last summer. The man presented his forearm and a pen. His girlfriend, her chest.
The pair asked Pastrnak to sign, telling him there was a tattoo artist waiting to make it more permanent. He obliged, thunderstruck at the request, and hung around an hour and a half to see what would unfold.
They returned, tattoos completed in black ink.
"Real tattoo," Pastrnak said, still marveling. "Because they said we have a tattoo artist sitting at our table in the pub and we're going to go home right now and do it. I didn't believe them. They did it and I bought them a round of beers and shots. I thought that was kind of crazy. It was wild.
"Before I signed it, I was like, 'Are you guys sure?' I wouldn't do it if I [were] you guys.'"
This is the kind of famous Pastrnak finds himself, somehow a decade into an NHL career that feels like it just started. He is beloved in Boston and just as much back in the Czech Republic, where he is climbing the list of the all-time greats. Pastrnak, who does not turn 28 until May, has the 12th-most points of anyone from the country, his 695 (335 goals, 360 assists) only eight behind Robert Lang, who has 703 in 11th.
Pastrnak's next chance to add to that total comes on Saturday at TD Garden when the Bruins host the Los Angeles Kings (12:30 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SNP, SNO, SNE, SN1, TVAS), in an attempt to emerge from the post-All-Star break funk they find themselves in, having gone 1-3-1 in their past five games.
For Pastrnak, there will be many more chances to move far up the all-time lists, with the forward in the first year of an eight-year, $90 million contract signed on March 2, 2023. He is second in points per game (1.08) among Czech players to the person who sits second all-time in points in NHL history, Jaromir Jagr (1.11).
"When you're playing beside a guy and you can see day to day just different ways he's able to just get it done out there, that's always super impressive," said Bruins forward James van Riemsdyk, who played often against Pastrnak as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers. "It seems like every game he's been a difference-maker for us, making a key play for us, scoring a key goal. That's been amazing.
"And it's not by accident. I think you can see how much time he puts into his craft, how much he works at it and how he wants to be player. He keeps getting better; that'll push the envelope."
It has been yet another All-Star season for Pastrnak, who is scoring at the highest rate of his career, at 1.44 points per game, after he set an NHL career high last season with 1.38 (113 points in 82 games). That is partially due to an increase in assists, with 44 in 54 games, to go along with his 34 goals, for 78 points, good for fourth in the NHL behind Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning (93), Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche (89) and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (80). Pastrnak's career high in assists is 52 set last season.
"I think he looks to carry the puck a lot more through the neutral zone," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "He looks to distribute more, understanding that he's going to be checked tightly. And I think on the power play, because we've had [Pavel Zacha] in the bumper the most, the power play goes through him on his side more. So, opposite of the way he used to be, where he was a trigger guy. He's more of a distributor now.
"He still gets his shots off, by his shot total, but it's a little different, so it's going to lead to more assists."
Last season, Pastrnak averaged 4.96 shots per game; this season he is at 5.02. His shooting percentage has dipped from 15 percent last season to 12.5 this season.
"He can drive a line with his possession game," Montgomery said. "There's a lot of goal-scorers like him that they have to play off a possession player. And that's usual. Him, (Artemi) Panarin and (Patrick) Kane, those are names that come right away, they're kind of like wingers that play as centers."
He added, "I knew he could. I just didn't know if he really wanted to do it. And he's shown right from the beginning of camp that was going to hang on to pucks more and be more of a 50-50 goal scorer and playmaker."
It's been needed for the Bruins.
For so long, the Bruins were able to fall back on the line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Pastrnak. They had a line that was a contender for best in the NHL every season. This year has been different, with Bergeron and David Krejci retired, with Charlie Coyle and Zacha tasked with centering the top two lines.
That has given Coyle a whole new perspective on Pastrnak, and on what it's like to play with him. Before, in a third-line role, there were times when it was clear that they should dump the puck in after getting over the blue line.
Now?
"He's one of those guys you feel like he's always open, because he usually is," Coyle said. "He thinks the game very high and he likes to possess it more. So not get away from being simple and just getting the puck in – that's a part of the game – but making plays when you're there because that's what he's good at and just getting open for a guy like that.
"Sometimes those little seams where you don't feel like you're open but there's a little slot and a little avenue and he's going to find it. So you've got to be ready when he has it. He just creates so much offense in everything he does."
Coyle struggles with the word safe. But, in some ways, that's the role when you're on the third line, playing safely, playing it cautiously. That's not the case for him now, and it's never been the case for Pastrnak.
Now, Coyle is trusting his instincts and, even more than that, he's trusting in Pastrnak -- and letting the game be more than safe.
"It is fun," Coyle said. "He makes it fun."
