( Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images )

By Carrie Young | Follow me on Twitter @carrieyoung512

David Pastrnak continues to collect awards and honors after a career year in 2019-20. EA Sports NHL announced on Friday that Pastrnak has been named to the NHL 21 Team of the Year.

The Team of the Year is an honor given by EA to what they consider the best lineup in hockey: three forwards, two defensemen, and one goaltender. Winners receive not just glory but also a set of “one-of-a-kind” equipment from EA. Pastrnak was one of 18 forwards named as a TOTY candidate on Monday. The full list of candidates he was up against, as well as the final roster, can be seen on EA’s website.

Pastrnak proved victorious over other right-wingers such as Nikita Kucherov, Mitch Marner, and Mikko Rantanen. As was the case last year, EA chose one player at each forward position (center, left, and right wings). Pastrnak had a strong case, leading all right wings in points (third overall, trailing just Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid) and goals (tied for first in the league with Alex Ovechkin) in 2019-20, and EA recognized his excellent season.

Pastrnak’s 48 goals and 95 total points have earned him several awards this year. He was named an NHL All-Star and won MVP of the All-Star game in January. He shared the Rocket Richard trophy with Ovechkin and made the NHL’s First Team at the end of the season. He also recently received the Golden Hockey Stick award (given to the top hockey player from the Czech Republic) for the fourth year in a row.

Within the Bruins organization, Pastrnak was honored with the Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy for outstanding performance in home games (he had 49 points in 35 games at TD Garden), as well as First Star overall.

EA announced the final Team of the Year lineup today. The other victors were Leon Draisaitl, Artemi Panarin, Cale Makar, Victor Hedman, and Andrei Vasilevskiy. They received custom skates (skaters) or a helmet (goaltender) and a trophy. Pastrnak was the only Bruins nominee for the NHL 21 TOTY. This achievement provided yet another addition to his trophy case after an outstanding season.