By: Declan Flavin | Follow me on Twitter / X @FlavinDeclan
Everyone and their mother has recognized the sheer value that forward Morgan Geekie has brought to the Boston Bruins this year, but why is this happening? What was a stellar 2024–2025 campaign has been outdone so far as a start, and Geekie has shown no signs of slowing down.
The reality is that there are a few different components that should be recognized about this player so far. Geekie clearly paid attention to certain statistics over the offseason and continued working on his versatile game as an important part of a whole. An approach privy and aligned to an organization that has needed to be on its toes and innovative with how it finds scoring punch.
The Numbers
Geekie’s shooting percentage this season is 27.1%, up from 22.0% last season, clearly showing that he has recognized the need to simplify and shoot the puck more. Not only does this show a simple identification by him, but it also indicates that he has gained confidence in his urge to shoot, which appears to have been the career roadblock preventing this scoring spree from happening earlier.
Having six assists alongside his 16 goals so far is another supportive statistic, as he has been more of a playmaker earlier in his career. He has taken matters into his own hands, and it may help that the situation around him has given him a push as well.
The Environment
By the situation around Geekie, this refers in part to the diligence of the Bruins’ recent coaching regimes and the front office, who identified him from the start as a player with half-baked potential. This is a cliché but realistic situation in which the player needed the right organization to continue his growth, because how else would he have doubled and tripled his goal totals since coming to Boston?
More specifically too, the Bruins are in a phase with their rostered forwards that has pushed a player like Geekie to play with higher-skilled players like winger David Pastrnak and let it loose. A lot can be taken from the fact that he no longer has to expend maximum energy to create opportunities for his linemates, though he is still willing to do so, as he is starting to move around other lines as well.
The Visuals
It wouldn’t be the same No. 39 on the ice if Geekie weren’t paying diligent attention to board battles and the overall forecheck, which he has continued to do this season. The grittiness in addition to the skill he shows has been an example for the younger players being integrated into the team so far.
Although he hasn’t played much with injured two-way centerman Elias Lindholm, Geekie has also received more support in the dirty areas thanks to his linemates’ buy-in. It’s been a balanced crescendo watching him, a player who ultimately stick-checks just enough and shoots just enough.
Will this exceptional start continue through the middle part of the season? Who knows, but no one should be betting against Geekie’s future, considering just how far he has come.
His rise has been a godsend for a Bruins team that needed players to step up in a meteoric way. After another lackluster free-agency period in the offseason, the team needed players to either provide a bigger scoring punch out of the blue or find innovative ways to produce, and Geekie has somehow done both. The Bruins can go as far as a player like him can take them.
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