BOSTON — Morgan Geekie picked the right time for his two-year, $4 million contract to expire.
He has 31 goals, his latest coming in Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, and the salary cap will rise to $95.5 million in 2025-26, up from $88 million. The Boston Bruins are desperate to fill out a roster that is short on forwards who can put pucks in nets. Geekie has arbitration rights.
The latter is a mechanism he prefers not to trigger.
“Nobody wants to do that,” Geekie said of facing off against his employer during a hearing. “It’s a really tough situation for both parties involved. I’d love for it not to get to that point. Because obviously at that point, your negotiations are a little too far apart. Yeah, it’s a business. Both sides have to make a decision. I have that right. I’d love not to exercise it. But sometimes it’s a business, unfortunately.”
By July 5, Geekie and other arbitration-eligible players must inform their agents and the NHLPA that they’d like to proceed to hearings. By then, Geekie hopes he will have signed an organic agreement or at least be close enough to ensure a summer signing. The Bruins feel the same way.
But even filing for arbitration could help frame Geekie’s contract. The threat of a hearing can accelerate negotiations to prevent it from taking place.
The 26-year-old’s explosion is one of the few positives in a season that will conclude with the draft lottery. Even in general manager Don Sweeney’s most optimistic projection, he probably did not forecast a 31-goal bonanza when he got Geekie for free, essentially, when the Seattle Kraken declined to issue him a qualifying offer following the 2022-23 season. GMs dream of such payoffs. It is not often that clubs land 31-goal scorers without ceding significant assets.
“He works on his game,” David Pastrnak said. “You can see this year where he became a great goal-scoring threat and makes really nice plays. Very happy for him because we are close friends. It’s good to see him have that successful year.”
Teammates congratulate Morgan Geekie, center, on his goal against the Blackhawks on Thursday. (Bob DeChiara / Imagn Images)
The incoming trick for Sweeney and Judd Moldaver, Geekie’s agent, is to agree on what the multi-position Canadian is worth.
It will not be easy. It is why arbitration remains a possibility for what could be a considerable disagreement. The Bruins learned the hard way how hearings can go sideways when they butted heads with Jeremy Swayman on July 30, 2023.
Filing for arbitration, however, remains an option in Geekie’s toolbox because of his limited history as a goal scorer. As of Thursday, Geekie was one of 38 forwards with 30 or more goals. Only five other players in this cohort are first-time 30-goal scorers like Geekie: Cole Caufield, Pavel Dorofeyev, Tom Wilson, Kirill Marchenko and Aliaksei Protas.
Meanwhile, Geekie has a 21.1 percent shooting percentage. His previous best was 13.1 percent in 2023-24, when he scored 17 goals. Entering Thursday, only Mark Scheifele (22.6 percent), Brayden Point (22.0 percent) and Protas (21.1 percent) had higher or equal marks among 30-goal scorers. In comparison, Pastrnak, Geekie’s linemate, had a 13.1 percent shooting percentage.
Geekie has landed 146 shots on goal, fewest of the 30-goal scorers. Nathan MacKinnon led the cohort with 320 shots.
In terms of comparables, Geekie could argue that he is on par with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Brandon Hagel. Hagel, 26, has 35 goals this season. In 2022-23, Hagel scored 30 goals for the first time in his first full season with the Lightning. On Aug. 22, 2023, Hagel signed an eight-year, $52 million contract.
But you could also make the case that Geekie’s 2024-25 production has been an exception, compounded by the privilege of riding with Pastrnak. Case in point: Geekie scored his 30th on Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils off a Pastrnak assist. It was No. 88’s 100th point, the third straight season in which he’s hit the milestone.
“A hundred points in this league is not something to shake your head at,” Geekie said. “And to do it three times in a row speaks to the kind of player he is. From my point of view, we read off each other pretty well. Just try to find spots to get open for him. I think that’s a skill I’ve grown over these last couple months, just trying to learn to play with him, where he likes to be, where I know he likes to put pucks. That’s just a skill you’ve got to learn. I’ve been fortunate enough to play with him for enough time now to figure those things out.”
Geekie has two games remaining to pad his goal total and make his full case for his next contract. Whatever his new deal gets him, he will have earned it.
(Top photo: Eric Canha / Imagn Images)