The Boston Bruins added some much-needed depth at center on Day 1 of NHL free agency.
Seattle Kraken center Morgan Geekie was not extended a qualifying offer earlier this week, making him an unrestricted free agent. The Bruins scooped him up Saturday with a two-year contract worth a total of $4 million ($2 million salary cap hit).
TVA Sports' Renaud Lavoie reported that 10 teams were interested in Geekie.
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Geekie, who will turn 25 on July 20, is a versatile player who can play center or right wing on the third or fourth line. He has great size at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and plays a tough, tenacious style of hockey.
Bruins free agency analysis
Geekie also had a career-best season offensively in 2022-23 with 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) in 69 games despite averaging just 10:27 of ice time per night. In fact, he had the most points among all NHL forwards who averaged under 11 minutes per game last season.
The Bruins now have nine forwards under contract with around $9.6 million in salary cap space after adding Geekie, Milan Lucic and James van Riemsdyk on Day 1 of free agency.