Boston Bruins
Morgan Geekie’s Big Year Leaves Bruins with Big Questions
Nothing has gone the way the Boston Bruins expected this season.
They did not expect to fire their head coach after only 20 games. They did not expect to trade away their captain and most certainly did not expect to miss the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
But most of all, neither the Bruins nor anyone else, for that matter, ever expected Morgan Geekie to be one of the team’s top contributors.
Amongst a roster that has struggled all year, Geekie has flourished by piecing together the first 30-goal campaign of his career.
It’s why he was one of the few pieces the Bruins held onto while they had a fire sale at the trade deadline and why he’ll be a high priority for them when he becomes a restricted free agent this offseason.
However, before the Bruins sit down with Geekie’s representatives, they’ll first have to weigh whether or not they can expect the same level of production from him in the future.
“Anytime you can reach a milestone like that, it’s something that you’ll cherish and something that they can’t take away from you,” Geekie said. “I think my game has evolved this year, especially. I mean, even since I got to Boston, it’s evolved, but it’s taken even more steps this year. I’m just going to try to keep growing and keep adding to my game and try to be even more complete player.”
Geekie has been a revelation for the Bruins, ranking second on the team in scoring with 55 points and 31 goals.
However, this season is an otherwise an outlier for Geekie. Entering the 2024-25 campaign, his career average was only 7.8 goals per season after he scored double-digit goals for the first time last year.
It must also be noted that much of Geekie’s production has come while skating alongside David Pastrnak, who has accumulated over 100 points for the third straight season.
As easy as it may be to attribute Geekie’s output to Pastrnak, he sees it as a bargaining chip in his favor.
“From my point of view, I think we read off each other pretty well,” said Geekie. “I just try to find spots to get open for him. I think that’s a skill I’ve grown over these last couple of months.”
It doesn’t matter to Geekie whether or not he plays with Pastrnak again next season. He’d be just as content returning to the role he’s played for the majority of his career on the third line and killing penalties if it means the Bruins can return to form.
“We had success last year, and unfortunately, it didn’t go our way this year,” Geekie said. “Wherever I can fit in and help the team, whether that’s producing or whether that’s a checking role, I’d just love to be a part of it.”
No matter what, that will have to come with some sort of pay raise for Geekie.
When he first arrived in Boston prior to last season, the Bruins signed him as a depth forward to a modest two-year deal worth $4 million per season. But now, Geekie has become so much more than that as a scoring threat who can play on with one of the league’s elite players.
He’s shown the potential, but is it his new standard?
The Bruins handed out massive contracts to players like Elias Lindholm and Jeremy Swayman last summer, only for them to underwhelm this season. As they enter a rebuild, they can’t afford to pay Geekie and not get a return on their investment.
Geekie has arbitration rights, so the organization doesn’t have to give him a qualifying offer.
For all he’s done on the ice to boost his resumĆ©, the Bruins still hold the leverage at the negotiating table, and only they know what to expect.
“I love it here, and I’d love to stay as long as I can,” said Geekie. “But it’s a long summer, and it’s a business at the end of the day. I thank the organization for all the opportunities.”
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Joe Lubrano
April 12, 2025 at 2:45 pm
Bruins need to keep players such as Geekie after March’s fire sale. They need to keep players with raw talent.
Joe
April 13, 2025 at 7:48 am
They needed to keep goal scorer DeBrusk but didnāt , the Bruins FO seems to have no direction
Mrbruin4
April 13, 2025 at 12:03 pm
Jake was not resigning. Geekie has more goals than him as well
Jorge Gomes
April 13, 2025 at 10:04 am
Though I wasn’t too impressed with at the beginning of the year was because he wasn’t put in a position to succeed. With that said player chemistry is what made this a breaking out year for Geekie.such as Pasta and Marchand had for years until they started to over pass and trying to get too cute getting little to no results. Instead of the coach being fired the GM should have fired himself for the signings on the off season. Elias was already on a down turn for two seasons and Swayman though has played better letting up 3 goals inI believe 90 seconds with two of them being soft as many he’s let in this year have been,never should’ve been given 66 mil. Zadarov 5 mil to lead the league in penalties is to me another questionable signing. Montgomery gave up when the GM did nothing to break up the core in the dressing room. At that time he should’ve moved one of the core group to let them know he supported the coach and expected them to step up.
Mrbruin4
April 13, 2025 at 12:08 pm
It was common knowledge that rMonty was not signing an extension with bruins. Teams was off to š©start and the combination of the two led to his firing. He is where he wants to be back in St. Louis And who in the core was Sweeney to brawls up ? Sweeney did great acquiring assets at deadline. And this high pick is going to help moving forward. I a lm so expect Lindholm to be much better next year along with Swayman Time will tell
Rick W Murray
April 13, 2025 at 4:08 pm
With the exception of Geekie, and Pastrnak get rid of the rest excess baggage right now Iād trade Swayman for a half a chaw of redman. And pay for his flight to San Jose.
Chelios24
April 14, 2025 at 9:24 am
Bruins need to trade Swayman, McAvoy and Zadorov for draft picks. They will be able to get a lot of first, second and third round picks for them, spread out over the next 3 seasons. They can use the picks to rebuild the minor league system. The salaries they will dump combined with what they are projected to have will give them around $50 million in cap space that can be used to rebuild the NHL roster. Mitch Marner, Brock Boeser, Brock Nelson, Sam Bennett, Evan Bouchard, K’Andre Miller and several other high quality players could be signed along with Geekie. Of course, as long as Neely and Sweeney are around, this will never happen.