PROVIDENCE –– If scouts for the other 29 NHL teams knew five years ago what they know today, David Krejci almost certainly would be playing for someone other than the Boston Bruins.

Krejci, one of the most pleasant surprises of this Bruins season, is shaping up as the steal of the 2004 draft. Relatively unknown heading into the draft, the center from the Czech Republic lasted deep into the second round before finally being taken by Boston with the 63rd pick.

With the exception of Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin (the first pick) and Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin (the second pick), no forward drafted in 2004 has had the kind of offensive impact that Krecji is having this season.

And even Ovechkin and Malkin can’t match Krejci’s numbers in the last 25 games.

Starting with the Nov. 19 game against Buffalo, Krejci has outscored every player in the league, with 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points, not including last night’s games.

After notching a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s night’s 3-1 win over Montreal, the 22-year-old is 11th in scoring with 17 goals and 31 assists for 48 points in 43 games. He is also third in the league in plus-minus with a plus-26, trailing only teammates Marc Savard (plus-29) and Blake Wheeler (plus-28).

When the 6-foot, 177-pound center joined the Providence Bruins in the fall of 2006, like many young players, he needed to improve his play without the puck.

Rob Murray, who was then the P-Bruins assistant coach and is now the head coach, remembers working with Krejci on angling, taking the body and some of the finer points of defensive play.

But even then there was little doubt about Krejci’s offensive abilities.

“He’s one of these guys, you just knew that … he had what it took to be an NHL player,” Murray said yesterday.

Under the wing of Murray and head coach Scott Gordon, Krejci grew into a dominating AHL player during his season and a half in Providence, scoring 38 goals and 64 assists for 102 points in 94 regular-season games.

After spending 25 games in Providence early last season, Krejci graduated to Boston, where he put up modest numbers (6-21-27 in 56 regular-season games). But in the playoffs, Krejci started to emerge as an offensive force, scoring a goal and four assists in seven games.

This season, Krejci caught fire in mid-November, and has emerged as an elite playmaker with a superb scoring touch. Lately, Krejci setups –– such as his no-look, behind-the-back dish to Michael Ryder in Saturday’s win over Carolina –– have become a staple of the nightly NHL highlights.

“He’s a very smart, very intelligent player and because of that his anticipation of plays, his awareness of where players are on the ice, puts him ahead of a lot of players. You can see it in his game right now, he’s making some really good plays, he’s thinking ahead of himself,” said Murray.

While Krejci is neither big nor particularly fast, he has answered questions about his size and skating ability. “There was always an issue that he didn’t skate well enough,” Murray said, “But realistically, he’s more of a deceptive skater; his skating was fine.”

As for his size, “he’s not the biggest guy, but he’s strong on his feet. His smarts and his instincts probably keep him away from battles he doesn’t necessarily need to engage in, especially offensively, because he moves the puck so quick or finds an open guy. The puck is on and off his stick quick enough that he doesn’t allow the defender to get close enough to make plays on him,” said Murray.

The success of the Krejci-Ryder-Wheeler line creates problems for opposing coaches, who must also worry about Savard’s line.

“Other teams usually have their top two defensemen pairing up against the other teams’ top line,” Murray said. “When you have a 1A and 1B [line] in a sense like they have in Boston it’s tough to match up and get the right people out against them.”

The teams that passed on Krejci in 2004 could get another crack at him after July 1, when he is scheduled to become a restricted free agent, though it’s hard to believe that general manager Peter Chiarelli would let that happen.

“David is making other players around him right now better players,” said Murray. “That’s a true sign of how good he can be.”

NOTES

Boston recalled Vladimir Sobotka from Providence yesterday morning, and Martins Karsums was sent back. Matt Lashoff was recalled late Tuesday after Aaron Ward was injured on Tuesday night. Tuukka Rask also was sent back to Providence. Byron Bitz remains with Boston. … Injured Bruins Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference traveled with the team to Long Island yesterday while Ward stayed behind. … Manny Fernandez will be available tonight after a bout with back spasms.

QUOTES

Not surprisingly, Claude Julien and Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau had different takes on Andrei Kostitsyn’s hit from behind on Aaron Ward:

Julien: “I guess the biggest issue with me is that this is not the first time this guy does this. We’re trying to eliminate that from the game. I know he got hit like that once supposedly this year. I don’t like to see that happening over and over from the same guys. Sooner or later, we’ve got to step in there and make an example out of somebody.”

Carbonneau: “I thought we were dominating them and then they called the penalty. I didn’t think it should have been a major; in fact, I’ve looked at it and I don’t think it was a penalty.” Tonight

Bruins at N.Y. Islanders

7 p.m.

mdivver@projo.com