The Boston Bruins announced they have re-signed defenceman Matt Grzelcyk avoiding his arbitration hearing that was scheduled for this Tuesday. The contract is four-years worth $14.75 million. It carries a salary-cap hit of $3.6875 million.
Hearing that RFA Matt Grzelcyk has re-signed with the Boston Bruins, avoiding his arbitration hearing which was scheduled for Tuesday.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 17, 2020
Matt Grzelcyk Re-Signs With Boston Bruins
It was unclear if the Bruins were going to be able to keep Grzelcyk around with the salary cap situation. Considering the restricted free agent was eligible for arbitrationGrzelcyk is coming off a two-year deal that was worth $2.8 million. That contract carried a salary-cap hit of $1.4 million and he was due for a raise. However, the Bruins were able to make it work after shedding some salary. The Bruins drafted the Massachusetts native 85th overall in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft. During his time with the Bruins, has appeared in one Stanley Cup Final and put up decent numbers for a defenceman. Grzelcyk has recorded 54 points (10 goals and 44 assists) in 197 career regular-season games. During the 2019-20 regular season, Grzelcyk put up some of his best numbers in his short career. He recorded 21 points (four goals and 17 assists) in 68 games.
In 43 playoff games, Grzelcyk has recorded 10 points (four goals and six assists). With the majority of his points coming during the Bruins run to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
What Lies Ahead
With Bruins moving on from Torey Krug, this opens up a bigger opportunity on the blueline. The Bruins are deep at defence with playoffs like Charlie McAvoy, Connor Clifton, and Brandon Carlo still there. Clearly, Boston is going in a different as they try to get younger on the backend. Grzelcyk has been used as a bottom pairing guy with the Bruins. But now could see an increase in minutes during the next four seasons. And the only time he has come out of the line-up has been due to injury. That will be something the Bruins will be wary of. However, having a good young defenceman on the team gives them stability for many years to come at that position.
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