David Pastrnak is once again standing on an island in Boston, and EA Sports’ first wave of NHL 27 ratings makes that pretty clear.
As the game begins rolling out player rankings ahead of its early September release, Pastrnak checked in at 95 overall, putting him second among right wingers and second among wingers overall. Kirill Kaprizov led left wingers at 94, while Nikita Kucherov topped the right side at 97. The order lines up with the NHL Network’s recent positional rankings, so this isn’t exactly a shock - but it still lands hard for Bruins fans seeing how far Pastrnak sits above the rest of the roster.
The new ratings system also introduces the “99 Club,” reserved for the game’s highest-rated players. Connor McDavid is the only forward to reach that mark at launch. Nathan MacKinnon and Kucherov are next at 97, Leon Draisaitl follows at 96, and Pastrnak is in the next tier at 95 alongside Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini and Aleksander Barkov.
For Boston, that’s the headline: Pastrnak is the lone Bruin near the top of the board. The next Boston forward listed is Morgan Geekie at 87, with newcomer JJ Peterka right behind at 86. Pavel Zacha is at 85 overall and carries the “X-Factor” feature, while Elias Lindholm is rated 84.
That leaves Bruins gamers staring at a roster built around a clear star gap. Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman should give the virtual team a solid foundation, but the offense looks like it may have trouble matching up unless the user can really control the sticks.
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