I wonder why Chris Bourque wasn't a staple on Boston's forward lines for 8 years. His dad was Sweeney's defense partner for forever. That has to trump tying someone's skates, no?
Player Discussion Matt Grzelcyk
- Thread starter bruinsfan1970
- Start date
They would have kept the legendary Colton "Bobby" Orr for more than 27 games too, no?
bigbadbruins1
Registered User
- Dec 12, 2008
- 2,097
- 211
DKH
The Bergeron of HF
- Feb 27, 2002
- 74,247
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Actually should - he’s got a quick stick and concerns over getting run through boards eliminated
I like it
for 30 seconds.
Seeing as lindholm took one of the penalties and Carlo and forbort are hurt. Someone has got to play those minutes and it’s not going to be Shattenkirk.
Tonight was the first goal against on the PK for Gryz this year while averaging like 1:08 PK time per game. He's actually pretty good at it.
It was Lohrei not covering his man in front of the net that caused the goal tonight.
You are right, and his partner was Loheri, difficult to comprehend.
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
As did McAvoy.
Perhaps they are returning to form together. That would certainly help the 2nd half push.
Charlestown’s Matt Grzelcyk hoping this isn’t his swan song with Bruins - The Boston Globe
With unrestricted free agency on the horizon, Grzelcyk's future with his hometown team is far from guaranteed.
www.bostonglobe.com
Like many others in the Bruins’ dressing room, the first week of March dragged to a crawl for Matt Grzelcyk.
For any NHLer not coated in no-trade protection, the days leading up to the league’s trade deadline usually prompt sticks to be gripped a little tighter and players to dread the buzz of an unexpected phone call.
Operating on an expiring contract, Grzelcyk is well aware of the nature of the business.
But for all of the expected anxiety that creeps into players’ psyche this time of year, the 30-year-old defenseman still found himself in a much better space than at the start of the 2023-24 season — when the dread drawn up by an uncertain future was at an all-time high.
With unrestricted free agency fixed the horizon for Grzelcyk, the Charlestown native’s future with his hometown team is far from guaranteed. But for now, the puck-moving skater is trying to stay grounded and avoid dwelling on a murky future with the only NHL team he’s ever played for.
“Honestly, I was probably more nervous about it before the year,” Grzelcyk told Boston.com on Monday. “I didn’t know how it was gonna play out. I’ve never been in this situation before — just to not really know what’s going to happen next year. I guess you never really know, anything could happen, but just knowing this could be my last year, I would say I was a little bit anxious to see how it’s gonna play out. But since the season started, honestly, I haven’t really given it too much thought.
“When the deadline comes, yeah, that definitely creates a little bit of anxiety for me, personally. But no, it’s been it’s been pretty easy. Each and every game we go over our process … you just think about those areas and just treat each game where I’m not trying to get too far ahead. It hasn’t really been too bad this year.”
Over 489:46 of 5-on-5 ice time this season, the Bruins have outscored teams, 19-12, during the Grzelcyk-McAvoy pair’s reps.
But their knack for suppressing shots and tilting the ice in Boston’s favor has waned this year.
In those 489 minutes, the Bruins have been outshot, 274-241, and have relinquished 113 high-danger scoring chances while generating 111 of their own.
Grzelcyk has dealt with several injuries this season, including a stint on long-term injured reserve in November due to an upper-body injury.
Jim Montgomery has found stronger returns as of late with that top pairing — a good sign with the playoffs just a month away.
“Last year, they were very dominant, right? Statistically and to the eye,” Montgomery noted. “And I think that now you’re seeing it again. They’re not spending much time in their own end, they’re attacking middle ice where it doesn’t matter who has the puck.
“I encourage Grizzy as much as possible to attack middle ice from the D-zone and neutral zone because he makes really good decisions. And when he’s moving his feet offensively and defensively, he’s really good.”
Even though the Bruins value Grzelcyk’s unique skillset, Boston does have options this offseason when it comes to adding more to the left side of its defense.
For Grzelcyk, staying in Boston remains the priority — much as it’s been throughout his hockey career.
But Grzelcyk is well aware that some of those wishes might be out of his control going into an uncertain summer.
“Can’t say enough good things about just the organization and everyone who we get to deal with on a day-to-day basis,” Grzelcyk said of playing for the Bruins. " I think that’s probably what you would miss most and something that I’ve been really spoiled with since I turned pro. So you wouldn’t want to give that up for anything.
“Being a Bruin, I don’t take that lightly and it means the world to me. Obviously, I hope that it works out, but you never know what the future is gonna hold. Right now, the only thing I can control is how I play on the ice. If you spend too much time worrying about all that, then it’s probably going to deteriorate your play on the ice a little bit. So I’m just focused on just trying to play well here going into playoffs and whatever happens, happens.”
RoccoF14
Registered User
He's played well the last couple of games. Good to see him fight to stay on this roster. I like players like that...Charlestown’s Matt Grzelcyk hoping this isn’t his swan song with Bruins - The Boston Globe
With unrestricted free agency on the horizon, Grzelcyk's future with his hometown team is far from guaranteed.
Like many others in the Bruins’ dressing room, the first week of March dragged to a crawl for Matt Grzelcyk.
For any NHLer not coated in no-trade protection, the days leading up to the league’s trade deadline usually prompt sticks to be gripped a little tighter and players to dread the buzz of an unexpected phone call.
Operating on an expiring contract, Grzelcyk is well aware of the nature of the business.
But for all of the expected anxiety that creeps into players’ psyche this time of year, the 30-year-old defenseman still found himself in a much better space than at the start of the 2023-24 season — when the dread drawn up by an uncertain future was at an all-time high.
With unrestricted free agency fixed the horizon for Grzelcyk, the Charlestown native’s future with his hometown team is far from guaranteed. But for now, the puck-moving skater is trying to stay grounded and avoid dwelling on a murky future with the only NHL team he’s ever played for.
“Honestly, I was probably more nervous about it before the year,” Grzelcyk told Boston.com on Monday. “I didn’t know how it was gonna play out. I’ve never been in this situation before — just to not really know what’s going to happen next year. I guess you never really know, anything could happen, but just knowing this could be my last year, I would say I was a little bit anxious to see how it’s gonna play out. But since the season started, honestly, I haven’t really given it too much thought.
“When the deadline comes, yeah, that definitely creates a little bit of anxiety for me, personally. But no, it’s been it’s been pretty easy. Each and every game we go over our process … you just think about those areas and just treat each game where I’m not trying to get too far ahead. It hasn’t really been too bad this year.”
Over 489:46 of 5-on-5 ice time this season, the Bruins have outscored teams, 19-12, during the Grzelcyk-McAvoy pair’s reps.
But their knack for suppressing shots and tilting the ice in Boston’s favor has waned this year.
In those 489 minutes, the Bruins have been outshot, 274-241, and have relinquished 113 high-danger scoring chances while generating 111 of their own.
Grzelcyk has dealt with several injuries this season, including a stint on long-term injured reserve in November due to an upper-body injury.
Jim Montgomery has found stronger returns as of late with that top pairing — a good sign with the playoffs just a month away.
“Last year, they were very dominant, right? Statistically and to the eye,” Montgomery noted. “And I think that now you’re seeing it again. They’re not spending much time in their own end, they’re attacking middle ice where it doesn’t matter who has the puck.
“I encourage Grizzy as much as possible to attack middle ice from the D-zone and neutral zone because he makes really good decisions. And when he’s moving his feet offensively and defensively, he’s really good.”
Even though the Bruins value Grzelcyk’s unique skillset, Boston does have options this offseason when it comes to adding more to the left side of its defense.
For Grzelcyk, staying in Boston remains the priority — much as it’s been throughout his hockey career.
But Grzelcyk is well aware that some of those wishes might be out of his control going into an uncertain summer.
“Can’t say enough good things about just the organization and everyone who we get to deal with on a day-to-day basis,” Grzelcyk said of playing for the Bruins. " I think that’s probably what you would miss most and something that I’ve been really spoiled with since I turned pro. So you wouldn’t want to give that up for anything.
“Being a Bruin, I don’t take that lightly and it means the world to me. Obviously, I hope that it works out, but you never know what the future is gonna hold. Right now, the only thing I can control is how I play on the ice. If you spend too much time worrying about all that, then it’s probably going to deteriorate your play on the ice a little bit. So I’m just focused on just trying to play well here going into playoffs and whatever happens, happens.”
He's been looking good for a while now- really after the AS break his game started ticking up (there were signs of it coming after Christmas). I think the last maintenance rest he had a couple weeks ago healed whatever had been nagging him since the season started.
Walkenthewalk
Registered User
- Dec 10, 2008
- 1,060
- 709
Credit where it's due, Gryz has been quicker and more poised recently, and likely leap-frogged Wotherspoon back into the top-6.
I agree he has been playing much better and good for him, I like to think that most Bruins fans are not rooting against this guy, but we must be honest come April it is a different game and we all have a pretty good idea how that will workout, I honestly would love to see Gryz, shut us all up......I do not know him personally but from what I can see he is popular with his teammates and seems like a pretty good guy.........Shut us all up Gryz........
goldnblack
Registered User
- Jun 24, 2020
- 3,395
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I think when playoff hitting starts though, he'll be a fast scratch
Grzelcyk's statistical decline has a lot to do with the dramatic decline in the quality of forwards he plays with. He was perfectly suited to playing with that top line, just get the puck up ice and let the two best possession forwards in the NHL do their thing. The game is a lot harder for him now, but he's adjusting to it, and moving him off of the top pair helps. Have to think he's in every day once the playoffs start.
A billion percent. The fact that even these lessor players he is playing with are not good rush players adds to it. A quick breakout to get it to some guy just trying to get the red line and dump it and try to win puck battles just isn’t a lot of value add to a D that rings it around the boards to try to get a puck battle to be able to dump it in. It’s not a bad thing the Bruins have guys that can win board battles, of course, but man they could use a little bit more of the ability to sneak in some rush play, too.
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
The Bergeron effect:
2021-22
Bergeron +26
McAvoy +31
Grzelcyk +22
Marchand +16
2022-23
Bergeron +35
McAvoy +29
Grzelcyk +46
Marchand +27
2023-24
No Bergeron
McAvoy +6
Grzelcyk +11
Marchand +5
Still a top team with top shelf goaltending, but dramatic change in even strength results.
UncleRico
Registered User
- May 8, 2017
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Definitely a drop off. They need to find some way to ‘replace’ bergeron.
As much as Coyle and Zacha have stepped up, it was obviously a much more balanced lineup with Coyle at 3c and Zacha on wing. Also ~$4m+ less to spend due to the bergeron/krejci bonus carryover.
Will be interesting to see those numbers next year if they solidify the top 6 this offseason
Sheppy
Registered User
Grzelcyk has never been a positive player in the post season, though. I can't agree with him being an every day when the playoff starts. The odd game? Probably.
Since 2017-18 he's a -19 in 63 games
McAvoy: +1
Bergeron: +10 (he was -6 last year which was a huge woof)
Marchand: +7
Pastrnak: +1
In my opinion Grzelcyk's play dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY in the post season.
Last edited:
It's all bad luck
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MarchysNoseKnows
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RussellmaniaKW
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MarchysNoseKnows
Big Hat No Cattle
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Forget these analytics. All I care about is how many goals go in when they're on the ice and how many they keep out. Stupid analytics.
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