Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak was ruled “unfit to participate” and missed practice Thursday, one day after making his training camp debut.
“As for the League, it’s ‘unfit to participate’ right now,” coach Bruce Cassidy said of Pastrnak’s absence. “Hopefully that changes in the near future. Any time players miss a session where we expect them back at full speed, then until he’s out there it is a concern for us as a team. But we’re just going to forge ahead.”
Pastrnak returned to the Czech Republic after the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. He missed the first two practices of training camp before participating on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Pastrnak shared the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy in 2019-20 as the NHL’s leading goal scorer with Washington Capitals superstar captain Alex Ovechkin.
Pastrnak needed just 70 games to score 48 goals, eclipsing his previous career high — set last season — by 10. He also set career highs in assists (47), points (95) and plus-minus rating (plus-21).
Fellow forward Ondrej Kase also was ruled unfit to participate for the Bruins (44-14-12, 100 points), who will play in the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup qualifiers in Toronto. They will square off against Philadelphia on Aug. 2 before facing Tampa Bay three days later and Washington on Aug. 8.
(Field Level Media)
