Boston Bruins: Peter Cehlarik won’t be back this summer

Boston Bruins youngster Peter Cehlarik has signed with Lugano HC in Switzerland.

It will come as no surprise to Boston Bruins fans that Peter Cehlarik isn’t going to be returning at the completion of his NHL contract.

The youngster was highly critical of Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy in an interview in his native Slovakia and from that moment on, it wasn’t hard to see the writing on the wall.

For the Boston Bruins, the fact that Peter Cehlarik never really amounted to anything beyond a strong AHL player is surely going to be a disappointment.

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Matt Grzelcyk‘s former minor league teammate, Miles Wood was still available when Cehlarik was drafted in the third round (90th overall) at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Miles has established himself in recent years as a useful roster player for the New Jersey Devils.

Drafting is always hard especially beyond the first couple of rounds, but among the other success stories taken after Cehlarik are Dominik Kubalik (191st overall), who netted 30 goals for the Chicago Blackhawks this season and Andreas Johnsson (202nd overall), who has firmly established himself with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Now, there is no obvious indicator as to whether a young draft pick is going to amount to anything, aside from desire, passion and obviously skill.

Peter Cehlarik clearly wasn’t lacking in passion; his outburst regarding his recent time with the Boston Bruins highlights that – he was very passionate about getting a shot in the NHL. Where he went wrong is likely his approach.

To speak out against the person that pulls the punches is to take to a big risk especially on such a high-performing NHL team, especially if you can’t back your statements up on the practice rink.

Consistently, Cehlarik proved himself able to compete as a member of the Providence Bruins, however every time he got a call-up, whether through lack of ice-time or other factors, he never quite got it done on the Boston roster and other guys simply overtook him.

11 points in 40 NHL appearances is nothing to sneer at. Very few players ever get a chance in the NHL, yet Cehlarik can still count himself as an alumnus of the league.

Time will tell as to whether he still can become an NHL regular, but fact is, it’s won’t be with the Boston Bruins. First off, he needs to rebuild his reputation in the relative neutrality of the Swiss league.