Through 40 minutes Saturday afternoon, the Boston Bruins created virtually nothing offensively and trailed the Colorado Avalanche 1-0. They wound up winning 3-1 thanks to some third-period offense from what has become an increasingly reliable source: the David Pastrnak-to-Morgan Geekie connection.
After the Bruins killed off the final seconds of an Avalanche power play to start the third, the Bruins’ top line of Pastrnak, Geekie and Pavel Zacha hopped over the boards and immediately tied the game, with Geekie burying a one-time feed from Pastrnak off the rush.
The next time that line stepped on the ice, they gave the Bruins the lead. Zacha worked the puck down to Pastrnak behind the net. Pastrnak then popped out to the left side before zipping a pass across the top of the crease for a backdoor tap-in from Geekie, who had gotten inside position on Colorado defenseman Devon Toews. Pastrnak would later finish off the scoring with an empty-net goal set up by Brad Marchand.
Geekie has been on fire recently, as he has now scored six goals in the last seven games. In the last three games, he has scored all four of the Bruins’ non-empty-net goals, including back-to-back game-winners in a pair of crucial games against Ottawa and Colorado.
The hot streak stretches back even longer than that. Since Dec. 4, Geekie has 13 goals and 20 points in 24 games. Only seven players in the league have scored more goals than him in that time. After a very slow start to the season that saw him healthy-scratched five times under former coach Jim Montgomery, he is now up to 15 goals on the year, just two shy of the career high he set last season.
Geekie is playing the best hockey of his NHL career, and at a fascinating point in that career. The 26-year-old forward is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights, and the Bruins are going to need to make a decision on where he fits in their future plans soon.
The case for extending Geekie has become pretty obvious. He is playing some great hockey right now. He has developed real chemistry with Pastrnak, the team’s most important player. He can play all three forward positions. He has grown into a tone-setter with his strong forechecking game and his willingness and ability to post up at the front of the net.
“I think he's seeing it offensively right now,” interim head coach Joe Sacco said of Geekie. “From my standpoint, that's what I see right now. That line has developed some chemistry here in the last little while. They're finding their spots in the offensive zone, reading off each other well, and Geeks is doing a good job. He's finishing his chances.
“This game is a lot about how you feel about yourself,” Sacco added. “When you feel better about yourself, you're going to be able to play your game maybe the way you think you can play. And what I've liked about what he's done is he's complementing that line by doing the right things, too. Like he still gets to the net-front. We need a net-front presence on that line. So, if it's not a play off the rush, you look at some of his goals, he gets right to the blue paint, and Pasta’s found him there a couple of times lately, the last few games.”
But with team president Cam Neely already acknowledging that the Bruins will have to “look at two paths” before the March 7 trade deadline as the team remains firmly on the playoff bubble, there is also a second path the Bruins could choose with Geekie.
Everything that makes him attractive to the Bruins right now would also make him attractive to Stanley Cup contenders if management ultimately does choose the “retool” path. More than a few teams would love to add a productive, 6-foot-3, 26-year-old forward who is still under team control, and who has a cap hit of just $2 million this season.
The Chicago Blackhawks just got a third-round pick (an early third at that since it’s actually their own pick and not Carolina’s) for an older, less productive, more expensive Taylor Hall. The starting price for Geekie would be at least a second-round pick.
The Bruins don’t have to make a decision on Geekie right this moment, just like they don’t have to pick a trade deadline path just yet. But moves are starting to get made, led by Friday night’s three-team blockbuster that included Hall as part of a much bigger trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to Carolina and Martin Necas and Jack Drury to Colorado.
At some point before March 7, Boston will have to decide if Geekie is part of the solution in the years to come, or a chip worth cashing in at what may be a high point. Either way, Geekie is only increasing his value with his play right now.