Late Friday Night, the Boston Bruins announced that they signed restricted free agent Matt Grzelcyk to a two-year deal worth $2.8 million. The Charlestown native will be signed through the 2019-202 season.
BY THE NUMBERS
This past season, the 24-year-old defenseman had quite the season, if not impressive for a rookie. As one of the many first-year players that made an impact, Grzelcyk tallied up three goals and 12 assists over 61 games. During the Stanley Cup playoff run, he had one assist. At just 5’9″, 174 lbs, the defenseman looks to add some strength to his game:
“Getting in the weight room is obviously huge for me, like it is every offseason,” Grzelcyk said. “I think just quite a bit of confidence going into next year, and trying to earn a spot again, that hasn’t changed.”
A third-round pick for the Bruins in 2012, Grzelcyk spent his first season in Providence. In this past season, “Grizz” played alongside veteran defenseman Kevin Miller, adding some much-needed depth on the blue line. During the regular season, he logged 16:44 ice time minutes; in the playoffs, he averaged 15:56 minutes on ice. Grzelcyk also scored his first NHL goal this past season.
First @NHL goal for Boston-area kid, Matt Grzelcyk! ? pic.twitter.com/b8Xovq9KNO
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) November 24, 2017
A LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Boston’s playoff run has been talked about, analyzed and dissected. No matter which way you look at it, this Bruins team will be quite the force this coming season. For Matt Grzelcyk, the Tampa series was one to reflect on, particularly the third game. For the defenseman, an unfortunate puck “hop” led to an opening goal by Tampa Bay. Grzelyck had the puck at his feet, however, because of that hop, he found himself spinning back towards the blue line. The puck, still bouncing, was fed to Tampa’s Ondrej Palat who was able to beat Rask on his high blocker side, sending it into the back of the net. A rough start in a tough series, but Grizz made no excuses:
“Yeah, just trying to gap up, [and] the puck kind of felt like it backspun on me on the ice. I thought it maybe went behind me. I just took my eye off the puck I guess and they capitalized because they’re a good team..Obviously not the way you want to start the game and that was just tough bouncing back after that.’’
NEW SEASON, NEW START
As GM Don Sweeney continues to make some key decisions affecting the Bruins roster, there’s was that question: would he bring back Grzelcyk? After all, he was going to be an RFA at the end of the season. Then came the good news: the Bruins re-signed Grzelcyk for two more years. Boston is continuing its focus on the youth movement by keeping Grizz. It’s always good to see a Boston native play for their home team, and fans alike see #48 at the Garden for a little longer.
Welcome back, Kid
