On July 1, the Boston Bruins signed a handful of free agents to keep their contender status in 2023-24. After bringing Milan Lucic home and inking Kevin Shattenkirk to return to the city he played college hockey in, general manager Don Sweeny signed Morgan Geekie to a two-year deal.
Interestingly, this is his first multi-year deal in the NHL outside his entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes from 2018-2021. Furthermore, Geekie’s new annual salary of $2 million is an increase in pay compared to the $1.4 million he earned last season with the Seattle Kraken.
Although Geekie is still young at 24, he’s got 180 games of experience in the league, meaning there will be some interesting things to learn about his relatively short career.
1. Won a Calder Cup Championship
The Hurricanes selected Geekie as the 67th overall pick in the 2017 Entry Draft, and after attending their annual development camp, opted to stay in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Tri-City Americans. Even though the team didn’t win a championship, he tallied 84 points, earning a call to the American Hockey League’s Charlotte Checkers by the season’s end.
After signing an entry-level deal on May 10, 2018, Geekie did not make the Hurricanes out of training camp and played a full season with the Checkers, winning the Calder Cup in 2019. Within a year of winning a championship, he earned a call-up and made his NHL debut on March 8, 2020.
2. Scored a Goal on His First Three Shots
During his NHL debut, a 6-2 Hurricanes victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Geekie scored in the first and third periods to collect his first two NHL goals on two shots. Interestingly, a few days later, on March 10, 2020, against the Detroit Red Wings, he scored the game’s first goal on his third shot en route to a 5-2 Carolina win.
Although Geekie didn’t capitalize on his fourth career shot in the Red Wings game, he achieved a 75% shooting percentage during his first stint with the Hurricanes that lasted just two games. Despite a brilliant first impression in Carolina, it would be almost a full calendar year before he’d score again with two goals against the Nashville Predators on March 11, 2021.
3. Spreads Out His Goal Scoring
Although Geekie only has 22 goals in the NHL, he enjoys evenly spreading around his offensive production. As we dig deeper into his career splits, it’s interesting that he has more points (36) on the road than at home (27). Meanwhile, his plus/minus statistics are also different on the road (minus-2) than at home (plus-4).
However, the coolest thing about Geekie’s numbers is his ability to score goals at an even pace in all three periods, with eight goals in the first, six in the second, and eight in the third.
4. One of 132 Players Born in 1998 to Play in the NHL
So far, there have been 132 players with birthdays in 1998 to skate in the NHL. During the previous season, 102 skated in a game, including Bruins forward Trent Frederic. Since Geekie was born on July 20 of that year, he currently ranks 26th overall in scoring for players born in 1998.
5. Geekie’s Family Has Deep Hockey Roots
In the early 1990s, Geekie’s dad Craig played in the WHL, skating three seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings. During his final year in junior, he played with the Spokane Chiefs and played seven games with the Oklahoma City Blazers in the Central Hockey League.
Meanwhile, Geekie’s brother Noah advanced to AAA hockey before switching sports to baseball. In contrast, his other brother Connor is a prospect for the Arizona Coyotes and was a recent 2022 Draft pick.
Further Perspective
Even though Geekie is about to play for his third team in five seasons, he’s a solid faceoff guy with a career 51.1 win percentage and has the skills to chip in 25 to 30 points as a bottom-six player. Ultimately, he could become a reliable goalscorer if he finds a groove in the Bruins’ system.
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