An offer Geekie couldn’t refuse

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This article was published 22/12/2023 (655 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For Morgan Geekie, this choice didn’t require much thought.

When the versatile forward from Strathclair, Man., hit free agency this summer and received a contract offer from the Boston Bruins, he was quick to jump on it.

“Anytime you can go to the best regular season team of all time, it’s a pretty easy decision,” Geekie said Friday morning before the Bruins faced the Winnipeg Jets. “An Original six team and Boston is a great place to play. We got it done pretty quickly. We weighed our options, for sure, but this was something that was tough to pass up.”

At the time he signed the deal on July 1, there were still questions about the future of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, both of whom ultimately retired.

“I was coming in fully expecting them to play next year,” said Geekie, who appeared in the 205th NHL game of his career on Friday. “I just wanted to be a part of something special. Sixty-five wins was something to build off of and obviously, they fell short last year in the playoffs, but everyone wants to come back hungrier after a loss like that.”

Geekie, who signed a two-year deal that carries an average annual value of US$2million, had four goals and 11 points in 24 games going into Friday’s action, where he was playing centre on the second line with Jake DeBrusk and James van Riemsdyk.

He also has a spot on the Bruins’ top power play, another example of how he’s quickly earned the trust of Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery.

“A good hockey player,” said Montgomery. “What has stood out is that as soon as he got comfortable, he got hurt and as soon as he came back, it took a couple of games to get back into the rhythm of playing. But he’s been really good at winning one-on-one-battles, making plays, building our team game and being hard on pucks.”

With the departure of Bergeron and Krejci, the Bruins had a couple of big voids down the middle but Geekie has been one of the guys who has been able to step up and provide quality minutes, no matter where he’s been in the lineup.

“He’s awesome,” said Bruins captain Brad Marchand. “I think he’s a little underrated offensively. He is very good at getting the puck, holding onto it, creating his own space and making a play. A really good two-way guy. Very poised with the puck, but he really adds a ton of depth throughout our lineup.

“The fact he can play anywhere, he can play centre or he can play wing, play any position on the power play and he moves up and down the lineup. Kind of a chameleon in that way. I love the way he competes and I love the way that he makes plays. He’s been a huge addition to our group.”

That’s quite a compliment and it’s precisely what Geekie has been focusing on since turning pro during the 2018-19 season after wrapping up his Western Hockey League career with the Tri-City Americans.

“I take a lot of pride in that,” said Geekie. “I can do whatever. I’m not real picky about where I play or who I play with. It’s a great group of guys and you see guys all the time make careers out of doing different jobs. If you can do a little bit of everything, it helps. Wherever I can fit in, whether it’s fourth line right wing or fourth line centre, it doesn’t really matter to me. I’m just happy to be in the lineup every day.”

Geekie has enjoyed being a part of this fabled franchise and seeing the strong culture the Bruins are known for first-hand.

“It’s crazy. I don’t think it’s like this everywhere and you see that,” said Geekie, who was originally chosen in the third round (67th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. “It’s something you can’t take for granted, just the accountability from top to bottom.”

Geekie, 25, spent the previous two seasons with the Seattle Kraken and was part of the franchise’s first playoff series victory, knocking off the Colorado Avalanche.

“That was super special to be a part of,” said Geekie, who praised the way the fans of Seattle rallied around the franchise. “They’re nuts. You see that with football, with what they do in the playoffs for (the Seahawks). Same with the Mariners. We know they show out for those kinds of games and they were behind us all year. The support they showed us our first year when we were out of the playoffs in early January or early February was pretty special.”

It’s an exciting time of year for the Geekie family, as former Winnipeg Ice forward Conor Geekie (a first round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL Draft) will be suiting up for Team Canada at the upcoming world junior hockey championship in Sweden.

“I honestly haven’t watched the world junior a lot because I haven’t really had a tie to it at all,” said Morgan, whose Bruins teammate Matt Poitras is also playing for Canada at the event. “They’ve got a good team and (Conor) is super excited to be over there. I never got to experience that, but I’ve heard it’s one of the best experiences of your life. He’s just trying to relish it and enjoy every minute of it.”

Morgan is there for support, but he knows the importance of his younger brother finding his own way as he continues his hockey journey.

“I try to stay out of his way as much as I can,” said Morgan. “I had to figure things out on my own and that helped me grow into a better professional. So I’m trying to let him do that himself. I’ll give him some tips here and there and if he has questions, he’ll definitely ask me but our relationship is more about everything else other than hockey.

“It just seems to be the one thing we have in common.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld