Oft-injured David Pastrnak challenges 'injury prone' designation

With the Boston Bruins passing the halfway mark of the 2015-16 NHL season, forward David Pastrnak has played in just 13 games for the Bruins due to multiple injuries. Pastrnak missed the entirety of November and December due to a broken foot, then suffered a minor finger injury while playing for the Czech Republic national team in the World Junior Championships. He returned to the Bruins' lineup on Jan. 8 and played just three games before he was forced out of action again due to a new upper-body injury.

The 19-year-old Pastrnak said he does not have much of an injury history aside from a back injury during his draft year back in 2013-14. But given that Pastrnak is a 6-foot, 180-pound forward in a league featuring much taller and heftier players, he is clearly at risk for some painful collisions. Still, Pastrnak told WEEI's DJ Bean that he does not buy into the idea that he is injury prone.

Via WEEI:

Thanks to his injuries and a lack of time on the ice to allow him to get into a good rhythm, Pastrnak has just five points in 13 games this season, slightly below his scoring pace from last season when Pastrnak totaled 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 46 games. This year also marks Pastrnak's second season of North American hockey, and his adjustment both to the NHL and the different style of play in comparison to the European game has to be hindered by his frequent absences from the lineup.

But it will be hard to determine what effect all of these injuries have on Pastrnak until the season ends. So just as Pastrnak has to sit and wait for his injuries to heal, Bruins fans will have to sit and wait to see how the injuries play into the forward's contributions on the ice.