Boston Bruins 24-25 Roster/Cap thread VI
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goldenblack
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oooo fresh sheet of ice
I think our roster just has to make the playoffs from any spot to be very dangerous. It's built for that.
I think our roster just has to make the playoffs from any spot to be very dangerous. It's built for that.
McAvoy feeling urgency to win Stanley Cup with Bruins | NHL.com
Defenseman says ‘This is our time to do it’ while window is still open
www.nhl.com
BOSTON -- Charlie McAvoy was standing in a corner of the dressing room at the Boston Bruins practice facility back in April of 2017, his eyes a little wide, the crush of cameras a little intimidating. He was barely a whisper removed from Boston University and was faced, then, with making his NHL debut in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as high stakes an environment as could be devised.
That day, the one that has felt so recent for so long, is now more than seven years ago. And though McAvoy has replicated the experience in each of the intervening seasons -- getting ready for the playoffs, a crowd of reporters, a chance at the Cup -- there is suddenly a sense of urgency, a sense of understanding, the endless NHL years ahead of him seemingly far less endless by the day.
“We’ve seen a lot of people come and go,” the Bruins defenseman told NHL.com last month, citing teammates now retired, like Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid and Kevan Miller. “It’s wild. It’s wild how fast things change, how quick time goes. And people say it, all the guys say it, ‘You’re going to blink and it’ll be over.’
“But God, I had a little like come-to-Jesus moment this summer, like it’s already been eight years. Time seems like it’s pressing. I feel like it’s time to win. We’ve kind of done the whole, like, ‘Now next year will be the year.’ This stuff gets time sensitive. You blink and it’s been eight years.”
The Bruins’ window, which has somehow stayed open despite the departure of Chara and the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, despite few first-round NHL Draft picks and little in the pipeline, has a few more years left.
McAvoy is ready to take advantage.
That starts Tuesday, when the Bruins open their season, watching and waiting as the Florida Panthers raise their Stanley Cup banner and celebrate at Amerant Bank Arena (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS).
The Bruins may not be anyone’s favorites for the Stanley Cup. They may not be favorites to win the Eastern Conference or, really, the Atlantic Division.
But McAvoy knows -- has seen it with his own eyes -- that the best team doesn’t always win the Cup, that the favorite can bow out, that the team that no one predicted to be there in the end sometimes is the last one standing.
So, with the time ticking and the years winding and a team with a revamped defense, a good enough offense and Jeremy Swayman, a world-class goalie, why can’t it be the Bruins?
After all, there’s only so much time left.
“Every year everybody asks me, ‘What year is this for you?’ and I’m like, holy [expletive], I’m a couple shy of a decade here,” said McAvoy, who revealed last week that he and wife, Kiley, are expecting their first child. “I’ve been in the playoffs every single [year]. We’ve had teams that have been extremely competitive, you come really close, one year (2019) we go to the Final, but haven’t been out of the second round since.
“Every year, you’re always sort of like, ‘Hey, we’re building something.’ And I think that that’s true. Every year you get to go to the playoffs, you’ve earned it and you gain experience certainly and [there’s] the cliché of you have to learn how to lose to win.
“This summer I was like, ‘I’m done with this whole next-year [thing]’ because you’re going to blink and it’s going to be over. I’ve already blinked and it’s been eight years. I’ve lost more than enough. So I think this group here, this sort of new core, this is our turn, this is our time to do it. And we’ve got to do it. Because we’ve got a window here where a lot of guys are under contract. And it’s time. It’s time to win.”
* * * *
Anyone else might say that McAvoy is coming to this realization early. He turns 27 in December, meaning some of his best and most productive years should be ahead of him. He is locked up for six more seasons as part of the eight-year, $76 million contract ($9.5 average annual value) he signed on Oct. 15, 2021.
But he has also seen teammates come and go, including defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins this past offseason. It’s something he’s become more keenly aware of, the churn of players and personnel, the exits and arrivals.
His hockey life is no longer about trying to establish himself, about trying to solidify his position on the team, about trying to earn long-term stability.
His thinking has started to reflect that.
“He’s still extremely young and has a very long career left,” Boston captain Brad Marchand said. “Some guys don’t realize it until the end and the quicker you learn it, the more you can change what you need to on and off the ice. Not just for yourself, but your teammates and the organization to help build toward that goal.”
It was something Marchand saw in the veterans that predated him, something that helped them get to the top of the mountain back in 2011, when the forward was in his first full season in the NHL.
That, now, is 14 seasons ago. A lifetime. A career.
But though Marchand never went through the waiting and working that McAvoy has, having his name on the Cup when he’d just become a full-fledged NHL player, he has always known that time is precious.
“I think that’s what the guys before us all did such a great job at was establishing that right away, like, ‘We’re not going to waste a year or two or five to understand that,’” Marchand said. “‘We need to start building toward something and we’re going to do it right now and every day.’ And it carries a lot of weight and really builds a winning culture.”
That culture, that expectation, was evident in the Bruins’ season-opening press conference. Though most of the attention was drawn to the Swayman contract negotiations -- which was resolved Sunday with an 8-year contract -- what was less remarked on was how management talked about its ultimate goals.
This is a team built not to just make the playoffs. Not to be satisfied with the second round.
This is a team that is ready, a team that believes it has a two-, three-, four-year window, as Marchand guessed. It’s why the Bruins spent a combined $84.25 million on contracts to center Elias Lindholm (seven years, $54.25 million; average annual value of $7.75 million) and defenseman Nikita Zadorov (six years, $30 million; AAV of $5 million) on July 1.
“I’m excited about this year. I really am,” Bruins president Cam Neely said. “I think (general manager) Don [Sweeney] and his staff did a fantastic job this offseason in identifying needs that we felt we were lacking to go for a deep run in the playoffs.”
He added, “If we get everybody in camp and everybody healthy, we’re a Cup contender. There’s no question. I strongly believe that. I think our players believe that. I know our coaching staff believes that. I think we’re going to defend extremely well. Are we going to get the offense we’d like? That remains to be seen.”
* * * *
It’s not as if McAvoy doesn’t know what it takes.
It was all there for them, for him, back on June 12, 2019, when the Bruins and St. Louis Blues took the ice at TD Garden in Boston for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. McAvoy would play 26:02 that night, a night that ended with dreams crushed and eyes red when the Bruins lost 4-1.
They have not been past the second round since.
There are a group of players in Boston who were there in 2019, who have been on the team for a while, made up of McAvoy and David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic and Brandon Carlo, all of whom have become leaders on a team still helmed by its single Cup winner.
“You’re definitely starting to see the maturity in all of them, the way that they prepare and interact and lead on and off the ice,” Marchand said. “And it is tough because there’s a lot of guys that go through all of that and don’t win Cups. But you’re definitely seeing that maturity and understanding of what they need to do.”
It was possible that when the last generation left -- Chara and Bergeron and Krejci, among them -- that the culture could have faded, that the pressing need to win could have dissipated. Instead, it remains.
“We’ve gotten so close and it’s hard when you haven’t gotten over that hump,” Carlo said, citing the need to build a new legacy. “For us, really, that next step is just getting over that hump.”
McAvoy has played in eight NHL postseasons, but in that time the Bruins have been eliminated in the first round three times, the second round four times and the Final once.
They saw the Blues hoist the Cup on their home ice in 2019 and have seen two other Atlantic Division opponents -- the Tampa Bay Lighting (twice) and Panthers -- win the Stanley Cup along with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights.
“You can’t avoid it,” McAvoy said. “As much as you wish you lived under a rock, you always see it and there’s nothing else going through your head, at least mine, besides pure jealousy.”
It’s jealousy and drive and, as he admitted, a little bit of sadness, too.
Another year gone. There are only so many.
“Every single year it’s been the same,” McAvoy said. “We build a great team, we’re always in the conversation for Presidents’ Trophy, we’re putting ourselves in great playoff position year after year after year and the playoffs roll around and -- I know all of us, like I put my heart and soul into it. I’ve got nothing left.
“It’s all we dream about, it’s all we think about, is winning the Stanley Cup. It’s not like we can sit back and be like, ‘I wish I would have done this or done more.’ Everybody does everything they can. It’s just a little bit of, it’s time for the stars to align type [of] thing.”
There is, of course, luck involved. There are bounces and injuries and a save just at the right moment.
“Sometimes it’s not meant to be,” McAvoy said. “Sometimes it is. Just waiting for our time.”
Viel, Sweeney, and Brown were waived. They remain on the Bs' roster until they clear waivers. None of Tufte, Mitchell, or Koepke have been waived--yet.
Although there are exceptions, Puckpedia lists the NHL one-way contracts as the roster, but two-way contracts with the minor leaguers. It's not an accurate listing right now of the roster. It should be updated within the next 24 hours, with the all teams' rosters correct. Poitras and Lohrei could be sent down and recalled to create a little more cap space, but they can still only have 23 on the active roster after they are recalled. Regula will be waived and sent down after he's healthy. Poitras either has to be sent to Providence or placed on LTIR, or someone else has to go. If and when they sign Johnson, someone else will have to go.
My guess is that they will keep 2 goalies, 7 dmen, and 13 forwards for a 22-man roster.
This is what the roster looks like at the moment, excepting the players currently on waivers:
Although there are exceptions, Puckpedia lists the NHL one-way contracts as the roster, but two-way contracts with the minor leaguers. It's not an accurate listing right now of the roster. It should be updated within the next 24 hours, with the all teams' rosters correct. Poitras and Lohrei could be sent down and recalled to create a little more cap space, but they can still only have 23 on the active roster after they are recalled. Regula will be waived and sent down after he's healthy. Poitras either has to be sent to Providence or placed on LTIR, or someone else has to go. If and when they sign Johnson, someone else will have to go.
My guess is that they will keep 2 goalies, 7 dmen, and 13 forwards for a 22-man roster.
This is what the roster looks like at the moment, excepting the players currently on waivers:
| G | Swayman 1 | Korpisalo 70 | |||
| LD | Lindholm 27 | Lohrei 6 | Zadorov 91 | Wotherspoon 29 | |
| RD | McAvoy 73 | Carlo 25 | Peeke 52 | Mitchell 14 | |
| LW | Zacha 18 | Marchand 63 | M Jones 49 | Beecher 19 | Tufte 10 |
| C | E Lindholm 28 | Coyle 13 | Frederick 11 | Kastelic 47 | |
| RW | Pastrnak 88 | Geekie 39 | Brazeau 55 | Koepke 45 | T Johnson 90 |
| Injured | Poitras 51 | Regula 75 |
Hopefully they can sign Tyler Johnson as I think he could be a positive addition. Scored 17 goals with a weak Chicago team last season, has lots of playoff experience and was 1 of the better forwards during the exhibition schedule. Could be a valuable asset for the bottom 6 and come playoff time.
Bruins forward knows he’s capable of taking bigger step this season
Morgan Geekie sees everything. The stories praising his versatility? He’s seen those. And the posts about how he’s not a top-six player? He’s seen those, too. The Bruins forward is using all of that as motivation to elevate his role for the upcoming season.
www.masslive.com
The stories praising his versatility? He’s seen those.
And the posts about how he’s not a top-six player? He’s seen those, too.
The Boston Bruins forward isn’t sure how he got into reading opinions on the internet. But he’s “for sure” using it as motivation going into the 2024-25 season.
“Everybody’s a fan, and everyone has their own opinion. I don’t know what got me into reading that stuff, but yeah, I think it’s fun to see what other people think,” Geekie said last week at TD Garden. “And I know what I can do. Obviously it gets a little much at times, but I think my self-belief is something that I take a lot of pride in, and being able to produce and contribute in different ways definitely helps me get through that.”
Geekie averaged just 10:27 of ice time during the 2022-23 season with the Seattle Kraken. But he was given an opportunity to showcase his versatility after he signed with the Bruins. He became a Swiss Army knife of sorts and logged 15:25 of ice time in 76 games. Wherever Geekie was used he made an impact. On the power play, he potted four goals and added eight assists in 142:10 of ice time.
Marchand-Coyle-Geekie were a line during Boston’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Marchand left early with an illness, but Geekie and Coyle logged 9:49 of 5-on-5 ice time together. During that time the Bruins held a 15-7 advantage in shot attempts and had a 9-4 edge in scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
The 26-year-old had 17 goals and 22 assists — both career highs — and saw time all throughout the lineup last season. Geekie spent most of the time playing on the third line with Trent Frederic, but played on the top six during Boston’s playoff series against the Florida Panthers.
While he’s likely to start the year on the right wing with Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand, he’s willing to play anywhere.
Geekie’s physical game as well as his strength along the boards add to his versatility as a forward. He’s ready to take another step and elevate his game even further whether it’s playing on a line with Marchand and Coyle or with Frederic.
“I think I can just add a little bit more offensively. I think I’ve taken steps every year to improve my numbers and produce. But a little bit defensively will help too,” Geekie said. “And obviously, with Marsh and Coyle, you get a little harder matchups and things like that. So being able to play on both sides of the puck, I think I have a good shot being able to get that off a little bit more and getting in good spots to create and put those opportunities in back of the net. So I think for me, it’s just a little bit everything, and just keep going as a player.”
And if he reads what Marchand said about him, he’ll find out his teammates agree with him.
“I love playing with Geeks. He’s so great in so many areas: The way he can hold on to pucks and make plays, shoots it, great in the corners,” Marchand said. “So I think he really complements our line well. We haven’t had a ton of reps together so we’ll continue to work on it. I’ve always really liked his game.
Playing with him last year a bit — really enjoyed that. I’m sure we’ll see another big step from him this year, and one that we’re gonna need.”
Terrier
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Kegs
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- Nov 10, 2010
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I personally think Geekie can score. He has a nice one timer. I believe 15-20 g is realistic. Would be cool to see him explode for 25g
I think people get something put in their head that a player gets a label and is stuck with it. I am a Geekie guy, watch him play he does a lot of the hockey plays that do not show up on the score sheets. Unlike some of the younger players down in Providence, when they had a chance just did not take advantage of it, Geekie coming here was a big break for his career, and he is trying to make the most of it. Geekie and Freddie are two players that could prove to be very important to this team. Going back to a player getting labeled , I believe in some sense Beecher is falling into that category, my honest opinion Beecher, Geekie and Freddy, have a chance to make their mark on this team and really hope that they do, all have received labels, I would like to see them prove them wrong.
Was impressed with Carlo in the Behind The B episode. Don’t think he said “like” once. Seemed like a well-spoken, polite, young man. Just what we need from our 6’6”, 220 lbs shutdown defenceman.McAvoy feeling urgency to win Stanley Cup with Bruins | NHL.com
Defenseman says ‘This is our time to do it’ while window is still open
BOSTON -- Charlie McAvoy was standing in a corner of the dressing room at the Boston Bruins practice facility back in April of 2017, his eyes a little wide, the crush of cameras a little intimidating. He was barely a whisper removed from Boston University and was faced, then, with making his NHL debut in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as high stakes an environment as could be devised.
That day, the one that has felt so recent for so long, is now more than seven years ago. And though McAvoy has replicated the experience in each of the intervening seasons -- getting ready for the playoffs, a crowd of reporters, a chance at the Cup -- there is suddenly a sense of urgency, a sense of understanding, the endless NHL years ahead of him seemingly far less endless by the day.
“We’ve seen a lot of people come and go,” the Bruins defenseman told NHL.com last month, citing teammates now retired, like Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid and Kevan Miller. “It’s wild. It’s wild how fast things change, how quick time goes. And people say it, all the guys say it, ‘You’re going to blink and it’ll be over.’
“But God, I had a little like come-to-Jesus moment this summer, like it’s already been eight years. Time seems like it’s pressing. I feel like it’s time to win. We’ve kind of done the whole, like, ‘Now next year will be the year.’ This stuff gets time sensitive. You blink and it’s been eight years.”
The Bruins’ window, which has somehow stayed open despite the departure of Chara and the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, despite few first-round NHL Draft picks and little in the pipeline, has a few more years left.
McAvoy is ready to take advantage.
That starts Tuesday, when the Bruins open their season, watching and waiting as the Florida Panthers raise their Stanley Cup banner and celebrate at Amerant Bank Arena (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS).
The Bruins may not be anyone’s favorites for the Stanley Cup. They may not be favorites to win the Eastern Conference or, really, the Atlantic Division.
But McAvoy knows -- has seen it with his own eyes -- that the best team doesn’t always win the Cup, that the favorite can bow out, that the team that no one predicted to be there in the end sometimes is the last one standing.
So, with the time ticking and the years winding and a team with a revamped defense, a good enough offense and Jeremy Swayman, a world-class goalie, why can’t it be the Bruins?
After all, there’s only so much time left.
“Every year everybody asks me, ‘What year is this for you?’ and I’m like, holy [expletive], I’m a couple shy of a decade here,” said McAvoy, who revealed last week that he and wife, Kiley, are expecting their first child. “I’ve been in the playoffs every single [year]. We’ve had teams that have been extremely competitive, you come really close, one year (2019) we go to the Final, but haven’t been out of the second round since.
“Every year, you’re always sort of like, ‘Hey, we’re building something.’ And I think that that’s true. Every year you get to go to the playoffs, you’ve earned it and you gain experience certainly and [there’s] the cliché of you have to learn how to lose to win.
“This summer I was like, ‘I’m done with this whole next-year [thing]’ because you’re going to blink and it’s going to be over. I’ve already blinked and it’s been eight years. I’ve lost more than enough. So I think this group here, this sort of new core, this is our turn, this is our time to do it. And we’ve got to do it. Because we’ve got a window here where a lot of guys are under contract. And it’s time. It’s time to win.”
* * * *
Anyone else might say that McAvoy is coming to this realization early. He turns 27 in December, meaning some of his best and most productive years should be ahead of him. He is locked up for six more seasons as part of the eight-year, $76 million contract ($9.5 average annual value) he signed on Oct. 15, 2021.
But he has also seen teammates come and go, including defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins this past offseason. It’s something he’s become more keenly aware of, the churn of players and personnel, the exits and arrivals.
His hockey life is no longer about trying to establish himself, about trying to solidify his position on the team, about trying to earn long-term stability.
His thinking has started to reflect that.
“He’s still extremely young and has a very long career left,” Boston captain Brad Marchand said. “Some guys don’t realize it until the end and the quicker you learn it, the more you can change what you need to on and off the ice. Not just for yourself, but your teammates and the organization to help build toward that goal.”
It was something Marchand saw in the veterans that predated him, something that helped them get to the top of the mountain back in 2011, when the forward was in his first full season in the NHL.
That, now, is 14 seasons ago. A lifetime. A career.
But though Marchand never went through the waiting and working that McAvoy has, having his name on the Cup when he’d just become a full-fledged NHL player, he has always known that time is precious.
“I think that’s what the guys before us all did such a great job at was establishing that right away, like, ‘We’re not going to waste a year or two or five to understand that,’” Marchand said. “‘We need to start building toward something and we’re going to do it right now and every day.’ And it carries a lot of weight and really builds a winning culture.”
That culture, that expectation, was evident in the Bruins’ season-opening press conference. Though most of the attention was drawn to the Swayman contract negotiations -- which was resolved Sunday with an 8-year contract -- what was less remarked on was how management talked about its ultimate goals.
This is a team built not to just make the playoffs. Not to be satisfied with the second round.
This is a team that is ready, a team that believes it has a two-, three-, four-year window, as Marchand guessed. It’s why the Bruins spent a combined $84.25 million on contracts to center Elias Lindholm (seven years, $54.25 million; average annual value of $7.75 million) and defenseman Nikita Zadorov (six years, $30 million; AAV of $5 million) on July 1.
“I’m excited about this year. I really am,” Bruins president Cam Neely said. “I think (general manager) Don [Sweeney] and his staff did a fantastic job this offseason in identifying needs that we felt we were lacking to go for a deep run in the playoffs.”
He added, “If we get everybody in camp and everybody healthy, we’re a Cup contender. There’s no question. I strongly believe that. I think our players believe that. I know our coaching staff believes that. I think we’re going to defend extremely well. Are we going to get the offense we’d like? That remains to be seen.”
* * * *
It’s not as if McAvoy doesn’t know what it takes.
It was all there for them, for him, back on June 12, 2019, when the Bruins and St. Louis Blues took the ice at TD Garden in Boston for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. McAvoy would play 26:02 that night, a night that ended with dreams crushed and eyes red when the Bruins lost 4-1.
They have not been past the second round since.
There are a group of players in Boston who were there in 2019, who have been on the team for a while, made up of McAvoy and David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic and Brandon Carlo, all of whom have become leaders on a team still helmed by its single Cup winner.
“You’re definitely starting to see the maturity in all of them, the way that they prepare and interact and lead on and off the ice,” Marchand said. “And it is tough because there’s a lot of guys that go through all of that and don’t win Cups. But you’re definitely seeing that maturity and understanding of what they need to do.”
It was possible that when the last generation left -- Chara and Bergeron and Krejci, among them -- that the culture could have faded, that the pressing need to win could have dissipated. Instead, it remains.
“We’ve gotten so close and it’s hard when you haven’t gotten over that hump,” Carlo said, citing the need to build a new legacy. “For us, really, that next step is just getting over that hump.”
McAvoy has played in eight NHL postseasons, but in that time the Bruins have been eliminated in the first round three times, the second round four times and the Final once.
They saw the Blues hoist the Cup on their home ice in 2019 and have seen two other Atlantic Division opponents -- the Tampa Bay Lighting (twice) and Panthers -- win the Stanley Cup along with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights.
“You can’t avoid it,” McAvoy said. “As much as you wish you lived under a rock, you always see it and there’s nothing else going through your head, at least mine, besides pure jealousy.”
It’s jealousy and drive and, as he admitted, a little bit of sadness, too.
Another year gone. There are only so many.
“Every single year it’s been the same,” McAvoy said. “We build a great team, we’re always in the conversation for Presidents’ Trophy, we’re putting ourselves in great playoff position year after year after year and the playoffs roll around and -- I know all of us, like I put my heart and soul into it. I’ve got nothing left.
“It’s all we dream about, it’s all we think about, is winning the Stanley Cup. It’s not like we can sit back and be like, ‘I wish I would have done this or done more.’ Everybody does everything they can. It’s just a little bit of, it’s time for the stars to align type [of] thing.”
There is, of course, luck involved. There are bounces and injuries and a save just at the right moment.
“Sometimes it’s not meant to be,” McAvoy said. “Sometimes it is. Just waiting for our time.”
Kegs
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The Andrew Peeke Fan
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"I'm not playing with the kid Lysol, I don't need that contrast on the ice every shift, I look slow enough as it is out there."Bruins forward knows he’s capable of taking bigger step this season
Morgan Geekie sees everything. The stories praising his versatility? He’s seen those. And the posts about how he’s not a top-six player? He’s seen those, too. The Bruins forward is using all of that as motivation to elevate his role for the upcoming season.
The stories praising his versatility? He’s seen those.
And the posts about how he’s not a top-six player? He’s seen those, too.
The Boston Bruins forward isn’t sure how he got into reading opinions on the internet. But he’s “for sure” using it as motivation going into the 2024-25 season.
“Everybody’s a fan, and everyone has their own opinion. I don’t know what got me into reading that stuff, but yeah, I think it’s fun to see what other people think,” Geekie said last week at TD Garden. “And I know what I can do. Obviously it gets a little much at times, but I think my self-belief is something that I take a lot of pride in, and being able to produce and contribute in different ways definitely helps me get through that.”
Geekie averaged just 10:27 of ice time during the 2022-23 season with the Seattle Kraken. But he was given an opportunity to showcase his versatility after he signed with the Bruins. He became a Swiss Army knife of sorts and logged 15:25 of ice time in 76 games. Wherever Geekie was used he made an impact. On the power play, he potted four goals and added eight assists in 142:10 of ice time.
Marchand-Coyle-Geekie were a line during Boston’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Marchand left early with an illness, but Geekie and Coyle logged 9:49 of 5-on-5 ice time together. During that time the Bruins held a 15-7 advantage in shot attempts and had a 9-4 edge in scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
The 26-year-old had 17 goals and 22 assists — both career highs — and saw time all throughout the lineup last season. Geekie spent most of the time playing on the third line with Trent Frederic, but played on the top six during Boston’s playoff series against the Florida Panthers.
While he’s likely to start the year on the right wing with Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand, he’s willing to play anywhere.
Geekie’s physical game as well as his strength along the boards add to his versatility as a forward. He’s ready to take another step and elevate his game even further whether it’s playing on a line with Marchand and Coyle or with Frederic.
“I think I can just add a little bit more offensively. I think I’ve taken steps every year to improve my numbers and produce. But a little bit defensively will help too,” Geekie said. “And obviously, with Marsh and Coyle, you get a little harder matchups and things like that. So being able to play on both sides of the puck, I think I have a good shot being able to get that off a little bit more and getting in good spots to create and put those opportunities in back of the net. So I think for me, it’s just a little bit everything, and just keep going as a player.”
And if he reads what Marchand said about him, he’ll find out his teammates agree with him.
“I love playing with Geeks. He’s so great in so many areas: The way he can hold on to pucks and make plays, shoots it, great in the corners,” Marchand said. “So I think he really complements our line well. We haven’t had a ton of reps together so we’ll continue to work on it. I’ve always really liked his game.
Playing with him last year a bit — really enjoyed that. I’m sure we’ll see another big step from him this year, and one that we’re gonna need.”
I'd love the Bruins to take a flyer on Jacob Pelletier from Calgary, he was waived yesterday. Saw the kids play in Moncton for a few years and he's awesome. Had a shoulder injury last pre-season that has set his development back but he's a former 1st rounder, has all the skills to be a very good 3rd line forward or potential low end 2nd liner.
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Kegs
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- 4,063
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Only the Flyers and Habs have released their rosters, as of 1 pm.
2024-25 Opening Night Roster Tracker
Opening night rosters are due Monday at 4 p.m. Central, one of the many critical 2024-25 campaign dates. Some teams …
www.prohockeyrumors.com
there does, but also guys that are waived today would still be on the roster for the 5pm deadline since the waivers process takes 24 hours. So either some guys are going on IR, or some of the waiver ineligible guys are getting sent down as paper transactions.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 9,249
- 10,872
Looks like Bussi cleared waivers per EF.
Patera claimed by VAN
Patera claimed by VAN
BruinsFanMike82
Registered User
Jorah Marshmont
Long may he reign
- May 10, 2012
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The most legendary Bruins netminder since Martin Jones
bruinsfan1968
I'm rich I can do whatever I want! Lol MARW
Bruins4Lifer
Registered User
What a whirlwind week it must be for a guy like Patera.
The Bruins must feel pretty okay with him being reclaimed and Bussi passing through.
The Bruins must feel pretty okay with him being reclaimed and Bussi passing through.
Chevalier du Clavier
Écrivain de ferrage
- Jul 20, 2005
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