Bruins’ David Pastrnak Admits Trade Deadline Was ‘Emotional’

When David Pastrnak showed up to the rink ahead of the Bruins clash with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, the Boston locker room looked a lot different.

Longtime teammates Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau and Brandon Carlo were missing. They were all dealt from the Original Six franchise ahead of the NHL trade deadline. In their locker stalls were newcomers Casey Mittelstadt, Henri Jokijharju, Marat Khusnutdinov, and returning fan-favorite Jakub Lauko.

The trade deadline was very different for the Black and Gold this season. The club was a seller compared to years past, when they would normally be bulking up for a postseason run.

Pastrnak admitted Friday was a “tough day” for him, seeing all the moves Bruins general manager Don Sweeney made throughout the day.

“Obviously a very tough day,” Pastrnak told Emily Kaplan on the ABC broadcast during the first intermission. “A little bit different than I’ve experienced in the past year. It was a tough day for a lot of guys, for our group. Yeah, tough day.”

The 28-year-old right wing said he had the opportunity to talk with the departing players after the news made its way to the players.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Pastrnak said. “That’s the first thing you do when you learn the news. Very sad, emotional.

“That’s the worst part of the business we are in. It hurts to not lose not only unbelievable players and leaders, but really good friends.”

Sweeney confirmed no player will wear the “C” left by Marchand for the remainder of the season, but with Charlie McAvoy sidelined and the departures of Coyle and Carlo, Pastrnak was the only Bruins player sporting a letter to the left of the Spoked-B against the Lightning.

“That’s kind of the last thought right now. We just need to compete,” Pastrnak said. “We’ve got some good players and a quick turnaround for everybody. We just want to make sure we get off to a good start in game one with the new group.”