Matt Grzelcyk finds himself on the third defense pair, but he can be much more for the Bruins. They need him now more than ever.
The Boston Bruins again are one of the NHL’s premier teams, and depth on defense is a big reason why. There’s so much depth, in fact, that Matt Grzelcyk finds himself on the third pairing.
Is Grzelcyk really a third-pair defenseman? Or does he project to be much more?
The Bruins drafted Grzelcyk in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft. After a few years at Boston University, Grzelcyk started his professional career in Providence. There, he played 84 games in parts of two seasons before he made the permanent jump to Boston in the 2017-2018 season.
Grzelcyk played 61 regular season and 11 playoff games that season. He proved that he was a more-than-serviceable NHL defenseman, so he entered the next season with a certain spot in Boston’s lineup.
With all that experience under his belt, Grzelcyk really broke out in the 2018-2019 season.
He finished with more hits, takeaways, and blocks than the year before, and he also had three more points. More importantly, Grzelcyk saw his average ice time jump from 16:44 to 19:08.
Then, Grzelcyk followed up his regular season with a strong effort in the playoffs. He played the first 19 games for Boston, until he missed five in the Cup Final with a concussion. He made it back for the seventh game, but Grzelcyk clearly wasn’t himself.
Honestly, if Grzelcyk was healthy for the entire series, the Bruins probably come out on top. John Moore played decently in Grzelcyk’s place, but he couldn’t make up the difference.
This year, Grzelcyk got off to a slow start. He only has two assists in 12 games, and his average time on ice is 17:13. He did, however, seem to elevate his game last weekend, so we’ll see if this carries over to the next set of games.
With all that said, Grzelcyk remains an important piece of Boston’s backend, now and in the future.