The Kraken's loss is the Bruins' gain, but that doesn't tell the full story

The Seattle Kraken had no way of knowing what Morgan Geekie was about to become when they let him walk into free agency before the 2023-24 season. If you asked Don Sweeney to speak truthfully, the Boston Bruins probably didn't know he'd be this great, either.

The Bruins' front office must have seen something in Geekie to give him a two-year deal, but whatever analytics and eye-test they had didn't tell them that he'd become one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL. Nevertheless, the Kraken are kicking themselves after giving up on him before he hit his stride.

Geekie had just nine goals and 28 points in his final season with the Kraken. He had a good playoff run when they upset the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, but it wasn't enough for Seattle to consider keeping him around. The Kraken have been in a downward spiral ever since, while Geekie is thriving.

The Kraken are now fourth-last in the league, and a stat from a fan account on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows that the Seattle offense could desperately use someone like Geekie.

The highest point-getter on the Kraken isn't even close to Geekie's total, as Jordan Eberle has 20 points in 31 games. He is also the team's best goalscorer, with 10. While it's easy to say in hindsight that the Kraken made a massive mistake, I'll make one argument for why people shouldn't be so hard on them.

Kraken's loss is the Bruins' gain

The issue with the Kraken's offense is that there aren't enough skilled forwards who can drive the play. Geekie isn't one of those players, but when he plays with a player like David Pastrnak at five-on-five and on the powerplay, he can capitalize on the space that he opens up and the passes he gives him, like in Tuesday night's win over the Utah Mammoth.

If Geekie were still on the Kraken, would he be on pace for 58 goals? The answer is almost certainly no. The Bruins' sniper is excelling because of his elite shot and ability to get into scoring position, but I don't think that skill would've been unlocked as much if he were still playing in the middle-six in Seattle.

Last year's tear alongside Pastrnak gave Geekie the confidence to be a star. The good news for the Bruins is that the confidence now allows Geekie to move around the lineup and still excel. However, that only happens because he was able to play alongside a superstar for the second half of last season.

Maybe the Kraken need to land a superstar and hope it unlocks one of their many depth forwards.