{"id":308704,"date":"2025-11-25T23:29:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T23:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/308704\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T23:29:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T23:29:08","slug":"morgan-geekie-has-gone-from-spare-part-to-the-top-of-nhl-goals-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/308704\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Geekie has gone from spare part to the top of NHL goals list"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those days spent on the outside looking in still resonate with the 27-year-old Geekie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty tough. I\u2019m not going to lie,\u201d Geekie told the Globe Tuesday. \u201cObviously your job\u2019s at stake, and when you\u2019re in that position at the end of a deal, and you\u2019re not playing well, a lot of things can add up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to do a job for my family and support my family, and I think that maybe gets overlooked a little bit, so you have the weight of that, as well. It\u2019s definitely a big change with where I am now, but it\u2019s good. I don\u2019t think I would be where I am without those hardships.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Those hardships seemingly fueled Geekie\u2019s transformation into one of the NHL\u2019s elite scorers. <\/p>\n

Once deemed a spare cog, the sight of Geekie rifling pucks past goaltenders is now as regular an occurrence as fellow Bruins sniper David Pastrnak uncorking rockets from the left circle. <\/p>\n

Since the calendar flipped to 2025, Pastrnak ranks second in the league with 41 goals in 67 games. The only player with more? Geekie \u2014 with 42. <\/p>\n

Fresh off a 33-goal campaign primarily sparked after Montgomery\u2019s exit<\/a>, Geekie has dispelled the notion that last season was a fluke.<\/p>\n

With 17 goals in just 24 games, Geekie is tied with Colorado\u2019s Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead \u2014 and is on pace for a whopping 58 goals. <\/p>\n

Geekie\u2019s emergence has raised the possibility that he could be in the running for a spot on Team Canada\u2019s roster for the 2026 Olympics \u2014 a notion that Geekie downplayed. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, that\u2019s a dream that every kid in Canada has,\u201d Geekie said. \u201cI look at the lineup and you go down and I\u2019m like, \u2018Whose spot are you realistically going to take?\u2019 But I appreciate it wholeheartedly \u2014 just to have my name in the conversation, no matter how long that list may be.\u201d<\/p>\n

A slap shot delivered by Geekie against the Maple Leafs on Nov. 11 registered at 103.03 miles per hour, the fastest shot in the league this season, per NHL Edge tracking data.<\/a> Eleven of Geekie\u2019s 17 goals have come from mid-range (eight) or long range (three) \u2014 both of which rank in the 99th percentile. <\/p>\n

For Geekie, a renewed sense of confidence trumps all other factors behind his recent success.<\/p>\n

Geekie credited former Bruins coaches and teammates such as Joe Sacco and Brad Marchand for rebuilding that conviction last fall \u2014 back when he started to foster doubts whether Boston was going to be just the latest pit stop. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it allows you to be a little bit more selfish with the puck in those decisions. I feel like when you don\u2019t see those pucks going in, you feel like you\u2019re almost wasting an opportunity, and you want to give it to somebody else in a better spot,\u201d Geekie said of his increased shot volume. \u201cBut I think when you start to trust yourself a little more, the confidence starts to grow. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part is when you have no confidence and you\u2019re just trying to get a little bit of it. And then once you get a little bit, you just start adding every day. I feel like, right now, I\u2019m pretty content with where I am. I know what I can do.\u201d <\/p>\n

The reminders of his previous labors are far from the only thing fueling Geekie\u2019s resurgence. <\/p>\n

Be it social-media venom, chirps broadcast over the airwaves, or blunt critiques put into print, pro athletes are usually best served avoiding said noise.<\/p>\n

Geekie, however, embraces it. <\/p>\n

He noted ahead of last season that he kept up with plenty said about him, especially when some doubted that his 17-goal debut season in Boston was going to be the norm. <\/p>\n

That outside noise hasn\u2019t quieted down \u2014 even as Geekie continues to find the back of the net. <\/p>\n

\u201cI still pay attention,\u201d Geekie said with a smile. \u201cPeople think that I\u2019m still a Pasta merchant. So it is what it is. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I know what I can do and the player that I\u2019ve grown into. I know that I can be a good player in this league, and then when people are, \u2018Ah, he\u2019s only good because [Pastrnak\u2019s] good.\u2019 He\u2019s a world-class player, and everyone knows that. But it does take a good player to click with a great player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conor Ryan can be reached at conor.ryan@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Those days spent on the outside looking in still resonate with the 27-year-old Geekie. \u201cIt was pretty tough.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,28972,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-308704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bruins","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}