Boston Bruins Sign Massive Greenway To NHL Camp Tryout

After taking a look at JD Greenway as a player while experimenting with converting him over to the forward position during this summer’s development camp, the Boston Bruins have signaled that they want to take a longer look at the test case this fall.

The Bruins have officially extended a training camp invite (PTO) to James Greenway this fall, per the folks at Cap Friendly, after the mammoth 6-foot-5 skater dabbled in playing forward back in July after years of playing defense during his USNDTP, collegiate and pro hockey career before skating for the Providence Bruins and ECHL’s Maine Mariners last season.

The Boston #Bruins have signed D James Greenway to a professional tryout (PTO)https://t.co/zLnQ7o6Xc2

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 16, 2022

The 24-year-old Greenway finished with seven assists and 48 penalty minutes in a combined 42 games at the AHL and ECHL levels, and has always been a physical, stay-at-home type given his size, strength and skill set. Perhaps after watching his older brother Jordan carve out a solid bottom-6 forward NHL niche with the Minnesota Wild, it convinced the player and the organization the inspiration to give playing up front a chance.

The equally massive 25-year-old Greenway finished with 10 goals, 27 points and 69 penalty minutes for the Wild last season while also registering as a factor during Minnesota’s playoff series as well.

The Boston Bruins could certainly use a big, physical net-front presence as a potential fourth line candidate entering this season as players like Tomas Nosek, Nick Foligno, Oskar Steen, AJ Greer, Chris Wagner and others will be competing for energy line minutes. That being said, it qualifies as a massive project for a player to switch positions at the highest levels of pro hockey and that was readily apparent while Greenway was going through the drills with the forward group during development camp.

Greenway was initially a third round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft and was traded to the Bruins roughly a year ago for future considerations.