Forward Matt Beleskey has decided where he’ll take his talents to, inking a five year deal with the Boston Bruins.
It sounds like Matt Beleskey’s five-year deal with #bruins will come in a little lower than the $4.3M AAV Frolik got today.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 1, 2015
Last season, Beleskey set career-highs with 22 goals and 32 points, and a plus-13 rating. It was his first 20-goal season in six years, the closest being 11 goals in his rookie year.
Beleskey to Boston for 5 yrs at a shade under $4 mil per.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2015
Drafted in the 4th-round, 114th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in 2006, Beleskey is somewhat of an intriguing case. Standing at 6’0, he’s a pretty nifty player that combines a nose for the net and a good, accurate wrist shot that he utilizes to score big goals. He’s also capable of camping out in front and banging the puck away, while taking abuse (which in the Western conference, that’s a pretty big deal).
In the playoffs this past year, Beleskey scored at a 0.50 rate, putting eight goals on the board in 16 games, including a thrilling game-winner in overtime against the Blackhawks. Beleskey averaged a career-high 14:29 of ice-time and received favorable starts in the offensive zone, where coach Bruce Boudreau was able to somewhat shelter the 27-year-old forward. While his Corsi% (53.5), Corsi Relative (4.0), Fenwick% (53.2) and Fenwick Relative (3.1) were all up by a wide margin last season, it’s also important to note that he went from a player to started in the defensive zone 53-55% to starting in the offensive zone 51% last season.
Beleskey is a risky case because the Bruins are banking on one good season, with remarkable advanced stats and 22 goals, hoping he can do the same on a different team in a top-six role. It’s certainly a head scratcher for the Boston Bruins to let go of Milan Lucic to replace him with Beleskey.
