David Pastrnak’s 50-goal season another example of Bruins’ bright futu…

Pastrnak’s 50-goal season another example of Bruins’ bright future originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — There will eventually come a time when the Bruins say goodbye to Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Brad Marchand.

These three veterans have accomplished so much with the Original Six club, including a 2011 Stanley Cup title. Bergeron and Marchand are basically locks to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame at some point.

Whenever these three team legends decide to hang up their skates, the franchise will remain a contender in the Eastern Conference and still put an exciting product on the ice thanks to the next wave of Bruins leaders, and one of the most notable members of that group is David Pastrnak.

The superstar right wing made history Sunday by scoring his 50th (and 51st) goal of the season. He’s just the sixth player in Bruins history to achieve this feat and the first since Cam Neely in 1993-94.

“It’s pretty special. It’s even better with the win,” Pastrnak told reporters after the Bruins’ 4-3 shootout win in Carolina on Sunday.

“I came close a couple years ago. You never know what can happen. I had plenty of games to get there and, and all of a sudden Covid happened. It’s definitely special. It’s been a long way and obviously big thanks to all my teammates and my family. It’s pretty cool. Even better to share it with the guys that I have here.”

Pastrnak’s 50 goals and almost 100 points aren’t some fluke. This is the type of offensive production the team and its fans can expect to see for the rest of the decade after the 26-year-old forward recently signed an eight-year, $90 million contract extension.

Despite Pastrnak scoring just 25 goals in his first two seasons combined (97 games total), just four players since the start of his 2014-15 rookie campaign have found the back of the net more often. Pastrnak also has scored the fourth-most power-play goals (100) since 2014-15.

It’s not just the scoring totals that are impressive with Pastrnak –…