The Boston Bruins had a brutal season in 2024-25, one of their worst in recent years, and got to watch a bittersweet storyline unfold in the postseason as franchise legend Brad Marchand led the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup.
Now, it's on the Boston front office to come back with a strong offseason to get back into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. That starts on Friday with the NHL Draft and continues with the free-agency period starting shortly after that, but retaining the free agents from the Bruins is the first priority.
The biggest player hitting the open market from Boston is forward Morgan Geekie. He is coming off of a two-year, $4 million contract that proved to be one of the biggest bargains in hockey over the last few years, and now he is due for a raise.
While both sides are committed to finding a common ground at this point, they also don't seem to be close to a deal at the moment based on Bruins general manager Don Sweeney's latest update.
“There's been constant communication,” Sweeney said, via Nick Goss of NBC Sports Boston. “Are we on the doorstep? I don't think so. But that can change within one phone call.
Article Continues Below“Again, you get in around this time frame, and sometimes you're tracking on a deal, and you get it done right away, and other times, you get sort of pushed to the back burner as to do what everybody else is maybe focused on.
“Doesn't mean that my attention isn't on Morgan and being able to close out a deal. We have time in that regard, so I'm not concerned about it.”
Geekie was the second-leading goal scorer on a Bruins squad that had trouble putting pucks in the back of the net last season, scoring 33 goals to go with 24 assists in 77 games. After bouncing around with the Carolina Hurricanes and the Seattle Kraken over the first few seasons of his career, he seems to have found a home in Boston.
The 26-year old is a restricted free agent, so the Bruins will be able to match any offer that he gets when he hits the market. However, Boston is hoping that it doesn't get to that point and it can get a deal done to keep Geekie around long term.