There was a big roster turnover for the Boston Bruins last summer, headlined by the departures of centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. General manager (GM) Don Sweeney never really filled their shoes in free agency or in a trade instead going with internal options Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle.
That move has worked out well and youngsters Matthew Poitras and John Beecher have filled the remaining two slots up the middle for second-year head coach Jim Montgomery. Sweeney added some forward-depth pieces and so far just over a quarter of the way through the 2023-24 regular season, the Black and Gold are seeing that they are so far getting some bang for their buck. Here are three free agents forwards that are playing a big role so far in Boston.
James van Riemsdyk
Signed to a one-year, $1 million contract over the summer, James van Riemsdyk has come in and solidified a spot in the middle of the lineup for the Bruins. The 34-year-old has played a lot with Coyle and Trent Frederic, but injuries have forced the hand of Montgomery to move pieces around, but when the trio is together, they are playing really well.
In 26 games, the former Philadelphia Flyers forward has five goals and 12 assists and if he stays healthy, he’s on pace to set a career-high in assists and top his mark of 33 with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016-17. van Riemsdyk was producing early in the season on the first power-play unit as the net-front presence and doing a nice job of tipping and redirecting shots. Can he surpass the 12 goals that he scored last season with the Flyers? If he continues to play the way he has so far this season, that would be a huge boost for the Bruins.
Danton Heinen
It was a weird start to the season for Danton Heinen in his second time in Boston. He sat out a lot of the games in October as things played out with Poitras and the first nine games as he came to training camp on a Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO) (from ‘Bruins back bring forward Danton Heinen on PTO deal,’ Boston Globe, Sept. 5, 2023). Eventually, Heinen was signed and he has turned into a productive piece for Montgomery.
He is not going to blow you away with his skill, but Heinen has settled into a nice role on the Bruins and has four goals and six assists in 19 games. A couple of his goals have been timely ones, to say the least. In a scoreless game at home aaginst the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 30, he took a pass from Poitras and scored under the crossbar in the second period in a 3-0 Boston win.
On Dec. 9 against the Arizona Coyotes at the TD Garden, the Bruins held a 3-0 second-period lead when the visitors scored two goals less than a minute apart to cut the deficit to one. Midway through the period, Heinen came into the Coyotes’ zone and beat Connor Ingram with a perfectly placed shot under the crossbar to regain control of the game for the Black and Gold. Arizona had taken the momentum from the Bruins after the two goals and were on the verge of tying the game until Heinen restored order and regained a two-goal lead.
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Heinen isn’t going to come in and replace Tyler Bertuzzi who signed in Toronto for $5.25 million over an 82-game regular season, but he has come in and played his role the way Boston has needed him to and it’s paying off. He does have one more point so far this season than Bertuzzi, but the season is still young.
Morgan Geekie
The Seattle Kraken did not give Morgan Geekie a qualifying offer which allowed him to become a free agent and the Bruins swooped in and signed him to a two-year contract. He has been valuable to the Bruins lineup on the wing and sliding into the middle on an emergency basis like he did against the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 13.
In 21 games, he’s averaging 14:22 a night with three goals and eight points on 31 shots. He opened the scoring against the Devils in the first period of a 2-1 Boston overtime loss when he won a board battle and finished off a grinding shift with a goal from in front of the net. His stats are not going to reflect it, but he has been an underrated addition with his grinding shifts in most situations.
Poitras and Beecher have been good additions up front for the Bruins as well, while Kevin Shattenkirk, signed to a one-year deal, has been playing very well as of late in the absence of Charlie McAvoy and filling in with the first power play unit. He was rewarded with a power play goal against Arizona. The Bruins are going to need to get these efforts nightly from some of their free-agency additions who are on very team-friendly deals this season.