Trade deadline season in the NHL is here, and many are wondering what the Boston Bruins plan to do. The Bruins, who are as much in the playoff picture as they are out of it, have two paths in front of them as the deadline approaches and several players of interest to teams across the league. One of which being Morgan Geekie.
A do-it-all forward, the 26-year-old soon-to-be restricted free agent could be a fit on several contending teams. As far as he sees it, though, there’s only one place Geekie wants to be.
“I want to be a Bruin,” Geekie said Saturday night. “I want to be a Bruin as long as I can be. It’s not up to me. I’m just going to go out there and play. I love every guy in here, and everything about the organization, the culture. However the chips may fall, it’s going to be what it is.”
In a year when consistency has been scarce across the Bruins roster, Geekie has been a reliable source of offense for almost the entire season. After toiling through the early part of the year with only one goal in his first 18 games, Geekie has been on fire since late November and currently ranks second on the team.
He added to that total on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks at TD Garden, scoring his 18th goal of the year. Geekie had failed to capitalize on several grade-A chances earlier in the game but finally found twine when he blasted a one-timer from the left face-off circle at 18:49 of the third period to knot the score and send the Bruins to overtime after they had previously trailed by two.
“I definitely had a few chances to put them in earlier,” said Geekie. “I just try to keep shooting it. When you’re around the net, you just try to stay around it, and chances are going to come. I’m just trying to get open and definitely just trying not to shy away from shooting it.”
However, the Bruins’ comeback effort fell just short as Leo Carlsson scored the winning goal for Anaheim in the extra frame.
“It’s tough to take positives out of it, especially where we are in standings and stuff,” Geekie said. “Take it and learn from it, but you’re right. I think we really let those points slip away. We took a little bit to get going tonight. It shows resiliency to battle back, but at this time of year, I don’t think one point is going to do it.”
On a night when many of the other teams surrounding them in the Eastern Conference wildcard race lost, the Bruins did little to help themselves and still sit a point back of a playoff position with 24 games left in the season.
There is still plenty of time left for them to make the postseason, but not as much until the trade deadline at 3 p.m. EST on March 7. Geekie’s days left in Boston may be number if the Bruins don’t turn things around before then.
