Bruins finalizing contract for top pending restricted free agent

It appears that the Bruins are getting close to getting their top pending restricted free agent under contract.  Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports (X link) that Boston is finalizing a contract with forward Morgan Geekie.  David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (X link) that it will be a six-year, $33M deal, carrying a $5.5M AAV.

The 26-year-old was eligible for salary arbitration this summer in his final season of RFA eligibility.  That would have been a much different outcome than the last time he was a pending restricted free agent, as he was two years ago.  At that time, Seattle didn’t want to give Geekie the right to a hearing, so they ultimately non-tendered him, sending him to the open market where he quickly signed a two-year, $4M contract with the Bruins.

It’s fair to say that the contract worked out well for both sides.  In 2023-24, Geekie set new career highs across the board, notching 17 goals and 22 assists in 76 games while getting to play regularly in the top six for the first time in his career, primarily down the middle.  That alone was good value on the deal.

But this season, Geekie found a new gear entirely.  Moved to the wing for the bulk of the season, he found some chemistry with David Pastrnak , and as a result, he had 33 goals and 24 assists, finishing second to Pastrnak in both goals and points despite only having nine points with the man advantage.  With numbers like that, he wound up being one of the better bargains in the NHL this season.  His playing time also jumped to just under 17 minutes a night.

With Geekie only having one RFA year remaining, Boston is gaining five years of club control with the agreement.  AFP Analytics projected a four-year pact worth just under $6.6M per season, but it will ultimately check in below that.

With the move, they now have around $16.6M in cap space at their disposal, per PuckPedia, with John Beecher being the only other RFA to deal with after it was reported earlier today that Boston will non-tender winger Jakub Lauko on Monday with the deadline for qualifying offers being at 4 p.m. CT.  With Beecher’s deal likely to be a short-term bridge pact, GM Don Sweeney will still have considerable cap space at his disposal to try to fill several roster spots in the hope of getting his team back to the playoffs next season after missing the postseason for the first time since 2015-16.