Morgan Geekie doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.
The pride of Strathclair rolled into town for his annual visit with the Boston Bruins and — as usual — he drew a pretty large crowd of media around his stall after the morning skate.
This is standard operating procedure for most Manitoba-born players.
Ethan Swope / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Boston Bruins forward Morgan Geekie (39) celebrates his goal against Anaheim back in November. The Strathclair product had netted 22 goals going into game action against the Winnipeg Jets Thursday night.
But there haven’t been many of those guys that have arrived on the scene this late in the season in a battle for the Rocket Richard Trophy, which is precisely where Geekie finds himself, going toe-to-toe with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche in the battle to be the leading goal scorer in the NHL (and MacKinnon leading 24-22).
Does that change the level of fanfare this time around?
“No, I don’t think so,” said Geekie, who had a nice contingent of family and friends in attendance, including his parents, Craig and Tobi. “Honestly all the people that I talked to growing up, they’re still either friends I had in high school or grew up with, stuff like that. Honestly, it doesn’t really change much.
“Those people that I grew up with in the community, they would still say ‘hi’ to me, no matter what I was doing if I was walking down the street. So, I’m sure it’s cool and I really appreciate them coming.”
Another thing that has changed for Geekie is the attention he’s been getting from teams around the league.
Naturally, frequent linemate David Pastrnak still garners a lot of it, but opponents are game-planning for ways to try and slow down Geekie as well.
Pastrnak recently told reporters in Boston that he believes Geekie has an even better shot than him — which is high praise coming from a noted sniper and someone that has won the Rocket Richard Trophy (in 2019-20, when he scored 48 goals).
“I mean, just the confidence that he has in me, that allows me to just go play my game and be confident in myself,” said Geekie. “Obviously self confidence is a big thing, but when other people see it, too, it means a lot. Especially a player of his calibre. Just try to keep rolling and I’ll try to get him the puck as well, too, sometimes.”
Geekie spent countless hours working on his shot inside the Strathclair Community Arena, which doubled as the horse stables during the summer months.
Having access to ice as a kid is one thing, but having the dedication to use that time wisely is part of the reason Geekie — and his brother Conor, who is in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization — was able to realize his dream of becoming an NHL player.
“My dad had keys to the rink, so me and my brothers would go and just play all day. I know that’s not really a luxury that people have anymore,” said Geekie, whose other brother Noah played college baseball and is now an instructor at the Okotoks Dawgs Academy in Alberta.
“But before school, after school, it didn’t really matter, we were there for hours on end. As long as my dad was there to flood the ice we could go whenever we wanted. It’s one of those things where it’s a little bit of luck of the draw, but also I wouldn’t be where I am without my brothers and the competition we had. I definitely shot a lot of pucks, but it definitely wasn’t something that I was forced to do as a kid.”
This offensive explosion isn’t something that was inevitable, as Geekie worked his way into regular duty in the NHL as more of a defensive-minded player that could chip in offensively.
Chosen in the third round (67th overall) of the 2017 NHL draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, Geekie won a Calder Cup in the American Hockey League with the Charlotte Checkers in 2019 and got into 49 games (including the post-season) with the parent club over two seasons before he was chosen by the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft in 2021.
“No, (being a top goal scorer) was never really a goal of mine, especially when I made the NHL,” said Geekie. “I feel like I kind of broke in as the opposite player to that and just tried to stick around as long as I could. It’s always nice to see pucks go in the net. But I like the way we’re trending right now, obviously to win a few in a row. Everything’s good when you’re winning.”
The road to finding his way as a leader with an Original Six franchise was a bit of a winding one.
After failing to receive a qualifying offer after his second season with the Kraken, Geekie became an unrestricted free agent and joined the Bruins on a two-year deal that carried an average annual value of US$2 million.
Following two solid seasons with the Bruins — including a career-best 33 goals and 57 points in 2024-25 — Geekie inked a six-year extension this past summer that carries an AAV of US$5.5 million.
“Just kind of coming into camp knowing what my role was going to be and (would) be relied upon to produce,” said Geekie, who played his entire Western Hockey League career with the Tri-City Americans. “Obviously, I signed a longer contract in the summer, it just gives you a little bit of stability and allows you to come in and just focus on one thing at a time. It kind of makes hockey fun again and just allows you to forget about the little things and just go play.”
Bruins head coach Marco Sturm has been impressed by Geekie’s shooting ability and his quick release.
“I didn’t know it was that good,” said Sturm. “And there’s still room to grow, that’s the nice part about him. He’s still learning too.”
Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Koepke was teammates with Geekie last season and saw the work put in that has led to this latest step in his development.
“I saw it a lot last year,” said Koepke. “It was probably more of his first breakout season last year, and just seeing how he can shoot the puck, it doesn’t surprise me too much to see all the success he’s having, especially on the scoresheet. It’s pretty cool. He deserves it.”
There was a time when Geekie wasn’t the best goal scorer in his own household, as he ended up marrying his childhood sweetheart, Emma Coulter — a regular linemate during minor hockey in the Yellowhead region.
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“I might have her now,” said Geekie. “She’s definitely still the better skater, I’ll give her that. No, it’s fun. She’s the best. And she definitely was better than me at one point for a long time. I wouldn’t be where I am without her.”
Geekie leads the NHL in goals since Jan. 1 with 47 and that’s one of the reasons he’s worked his way into the discussion for consideration for Canada’s Olympic team in Italy in February.
“It’s cool. Again, not something that I thought was going to happen,” said Geekie. “But it’s always an honour when you even have the opportunity to represent your country and be involved in that conversation. But it’s not really something I’m putting a lot of stress on. Just enjoying the moment.”
If that moment takes him to Italy, all the better.
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Ken Wiebe
Reporter
Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.
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