Morgan Geekie has a chance to do something no Bruins player outside of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, or David Pastrnak has done since the 2015-16 season. With 28 goals in 72 games and five left on the schedule, Geekie could become the first Bruins forward not named Bergeron, Marchand, or Pastrnak to hit 30 goals since Loui Eriksson. As NESN’s Adam Pellerin pointed out, the last time that happened, the Bruins missed the playoffs. Despite Saturday’s convincing 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, a bright spot that snapped a 10-game losing streak, the Bruins were officially eliminated from postseason contention.
The 2024-25 campaign has been long, tumultuous, and ultimately defining for the Bruins. With the team failing to find consistency and generate wins this season, general manager Don Sweeney was forced to make a difficult decision and sell off the vast majority of his team’s core with an eye towards a retool. Calling the season disappointing would be putting it lightly, but that’s a conversation Bruins fans have had all season and will likely continue to have well into the offseason. Instead of rehashing the letdowns, it would almost be a disservice to Geekie not to mention just how stellar he’s been with the Bruins this season.
The 26-year-old from Strathclair, Manitoba has consistently improved on his point totals in every season since joining the NHL. He impressed early with three goals and four points in two games during his first crack at NHL action with the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2019-20 season. He followed up his debut with nine points in 36 games the next season before being selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Over two seasons in Seattle, Geekie carved out a middle-six role but wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer after the 2022-23 season, making him a free agent.
This decision opened the door for the Bruins, who signed Geekie to a two-year, $4 million deal; a move that’s now looking like one of the savviest value signings of Sweeney’s tenure as general manager.
Geekie Has Outperformed His Contract
The signing immediately proved to be the right move for the Bruins as the 6-foot-3, 208-pound Geekie would quickly endear himself to fans and score a career-high 17 goals and 39 points in 76 games. This season, Geekie has upped the ante once again with 28 goals and 50 points in 72 games and a chance to score 30 for the first time in his career; just in time for a new contract negotiation this offseason.
What makes Geekie’s season even more impressive is that he had just two goals and five points through his first 20 games, including just one assist through nine contests and starting the season pointless in his first six games. Over the next 51 games, he scored 25 goals and 40 points, truly cementing himself as one of the best and most consistent players on the Bruins this season. Though he’s still a restricted free agent this offseason, Geekie has seemingly pushed himself into a different tier of contract extension that the Bruins would be wise to consider. One possible issue is that Geekie’s performance has come while skating alongside Pastrnak, the Bruins’ best player, who has proven capable of playing with just about anyone.
While it’s tough to commit big money to Geekie this offseason, given uncertainty about whether he can maintain this level of success in the absence of Pastrnak on his opposite flank, it’s also hard to argue against the results he’s shown this season. It’s even harder to argue against paying Geekie simply because he’s played with Pastrnak, especially when the solution moving forward would just be to continue playing Geekie and Pastrnak together.
At the end of the day, the Bruins have very little to look forward to in the short term, but Geekie provides one of their most exciting and capable offensive options. With the Bruins looking to do a quick retool and return to competitive hockey sooner than later, retaining players like Geekie would be a wise move in the short term.
Though a potential contract extension for Geekie once seemed likely to carry an annual cap hit between the $3 million and $4 million range, it’s entirely possible he’s now priced himself out of this expectation; this remains true whether he hits the 30-goal mark or not. At the same time, the Bruins hold some leverage on their side with Geekie’s restricted free agent status. If the Bruins can come to terms on a reasonable contract extension with Geekie that can buy some unrestricted free-agent years for the team, they’d be wise to do so rather than signing Geekie to a short-term, one-year bridge deal that would carry him into unrestricted free agency the following offseason. The issue here is that the Bruins would have to sell Geekie on the idea that this team can return to being competitive sooner rather than later; otherwise, they may need to pay more just to retain their own talent for the long haul.
It’s hard to say exactly what the direction of the Bruins will be in the next season or two, but with multiple dominoes yet to fall, the picture will undoubtedly become clearer in due time. Patience is key, but that’s not always easy in a city like Boston where expectations are (rightfully) very high for every sports team.
