Pastrnak is a ashy, creative offensive talent who is dangerous every time he touches the puck. His game is a lot about handling the puck at high speed. He’s a very quick and agile skater, with a peculiar skating style, balancing far forward on his blade which gives him a great jump to his stride. Uses his lateral agility to elude checks and hits as he enters and circles the offensive zone. He loves to collect some speed in the neutral zone and challenge his defender one on one. Pastrnak is not an overly ashy stickhandler, but he handles the puck well at all times and has a very good success rate on his attempts to carry the puck into the offensive zone. On the power play, he plays the left circle, passes the puck quite well and is constantly looking for the one-timer. His shot is lethal; it’s super hard and super accurate, and what’s amazing about it is that he doesn’t need too much space or time to release it. You just give him a second and a couple of inches, and he can blast one top corner. He’s got really smooth hands and, combined with great vision, it makes him a great passer as well. But the shot is even a notch better than his passing. He’s not easily knocked off the puck. He uses his speed to separate himself from the opponents and drive to the net. (May 2014)