Bruins will officially have three reps at 2023 NHL All-Star Game

The Bruins will need to buy a third seat for the flight from Boston to South Beach, as David Pastrnak will officially join goaltender Linus Ullmark and head coach Jim Montgomery as the Black and Gold’s reps at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game in Sunrise.

Word of Pastrnak’s nod to the 2023 festivities became official late Thursday night and through the NHL, with Pastrnak among the group of 12 players voted in via the 2023 Honda All-Star Fan Vote presented by Guaranteed Rate, which allowed fans to vote for their favorite players online and via Twitter. 

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• For Pastrnak, this will be All-Star nod No. 3, with Pastrnak making the All-Star Game in both 2019 and 2020, and with the affable Boston sniper taking home All-Star Game MVP honors in 2020.

  Pastrnak’s nod also fixes what was an egregious miss by the NHL leaving Pastrnak off the initial roster.

  Boston’s MVP through the first half of the season, Pastrnak is currently pacing the Bruins with 35 goals and 63 points through 45 games played. His 35 goals are the most on the team, and are more than double the Bruins’ second-highest goal scorer (Patrice Bergeron, with 17 goals), while his 63 points have a 20-point lead over the second-leading scorer (Brad Marchand, with 43 points).

  Extending beyond Boston, Pastrnak’s 35 goals are the second-most in the NHL, with only the Oilers’ Connor McDavid and his absurd 39 goals in 47 games ahead of Pastrnak, while Pastrnak’s 63 points rank fourth among all NHL skaters this season.

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  Jan 18, 2023; Elmont, New York, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) celebrates his goal against the New York Islanders with right wing David Pastrnak (88) during the third period at UBS Arena. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)

• In addition to Pastrnak, the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews and Tampa Bay netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy made the Atlantic Division roster via the fan vote.

  That gives the Atlantic Division, which is currently being absolutely dominated by the Bruins and their 13-point lead over second-place Toronto (and with a game in hand), a roster featuring the Leafs’ one-two of Matthews and Mitchell Marner, the Sens’ Brady Tkachuk and Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk, Buffalo’s Tage Thompson, the Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki, Detroit’s Dylan Larkin, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov, and Pastrnak, along with Ullmark and Vasilevskiy in net.

  You may have noticed that the division will not have a defenseman on their roster, and no, that’s not a typo. The Atlantic will instead go with an all-forward look for the three-on-three tournament.

  The Atlantic will be the only division without a single defenseman on their roster.

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  Jan 2, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) skates during warmups before a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2023 Winter Classic at Fenway Park. (Paul Rutherford/USA TODAY Sports)

• As noted, Pastrnak’s addition will give the Bruins three reps at this year’s weekend-long party in Pantherville.

  That’s tied with three other franchises for the most representatives, with the Rangers (Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, and Igor Shesterkin), Avalanche (Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar), and Oilers (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Stuart Skinner) all having three reps as well.

  This year’s All-Star weekend will be held Feb. 3 and 4, and will feature a variety of skills competitions.

  This year’s jerseys will also feature a sweet ‘Reverse Retro’ look, but with a splash of Miami Vice.

• The Pastrnak ASG jerseys are gonna fly off the shelves. https://t.co/AYEe51nAlw

  — Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) January 20, 2023