Bruins make intentions clear with pending free agent Morgan Geekie

The Bruins clearly struck gold with their 2023 signing of Morgan Geekie.

Landing in Boston on a two-year, $4 million deal, Geekie's two-season run with the Bruins has featured 50 goals and 96 points in 153 games, trailing only David Pastrnak in the goals department over that stretch, while his 90 points are the fourth-most among all B's skaters during that two-year run.

And despite the natural uncertainty that comes with Geekie given his status as a pending restricted free agent, and with a CVS receipt-long list of things to do this offseason, the Bruins are ready to make sure that the Geekie tenure is not a two-and-done for their hockey team.

"It's obvious that we have a interest in getting in front of [re-signing Geekie], because that sometimes sets up what other things we may or may not be able to do [and] we'd like to sign him to a longer-term deal," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said at his own break-up day on Wednesday. "We know he's going to be on our team next year regardless, but we'd prefer to have him on a longer-term deal. He had a hell of a year.”

Geekie's 'hell of a year' included 33 goals, which not only was a career-high for the 26-year-old, but was only the most by any Bruins not named Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, or David Pastrnak since Phil Kessel scored 36 in 2008-09. Geekie also posted a career-high 24 helpers, and 57 points. In fact, Geekie's five-on-five production per 60 was on the same level as Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon (I'm not kidding, I swear to you).

But the biggest or most telling quote within there was Sweeney outright acknowledging that Geekie would be part of the B's roster next season.

Of course, that was always the most likely scenario given Geekie's status as a restricted free agent opposed to an unrestricted free agent able to talk with anybody this July. As an RFA, Geekie would need to be approached with an offer sheet from a rival club to leave the Bruins, and though it can happen, the average annual value likely thrown at Geekie on an offer sheet would be an easy match for the Bruins, assuming that a team does not go crazy and offer Geekie something like $6.8 million plus per year.

The Bruins started negotiations with Geekie's camp before the 2024-25 season began, and though a deal was not struck then, the sides remain in conversations that seem to be rooted in a shared vision. There's no denying that October's price is not the same as April's price, however, given the aforementioned offensive explosion Geekie had playing on Boston's top life opposite Pastrnak. And a similarly-explosive jump in the salary cap will add another layer of intrigue to Geekie's upcoming payday, with middle-six talent set to see their biggest pay-jump in almost a decade, really.

The issue for the B's will ultimately come with trying to forecast where Geekie slots into their forward grouping long term, and coming up with a contract that reflects that. If he's more third-line forward (like he was his first season in Boston) than top liner, the Bruins would prefer an AAV that properly reflects that opposed to Geekie becoming a 'third-line albatross' with a heavy and downright unjustifiable payday (think David Backes).

But, as always, Sweeney will not tip his hand beyond the obvious.

"I will reserve those conversations with my internal group. And obviously, if you know, Morgan or his representatives, decide to publicize that, then that's perfectly fine with them," Sweeney said when asked about any specific desires for Geekie's potential long-term deal. "They have a goal. We have a goal. I'm not boxed into any one particular year. We're going to look at the entire, whether that's term and AAV, and all the other things that go with it and find the landing spot. Our goal is to have a long-term deal."

Sweeney and the Bruins are entering the 2025 offseason with over $28 million in projected cap space.