Eide: Morgan Geekie’s hard work is paying off for Seattle Kraken
Young Seattle Kraken center Morgan Geekie doesn't have the numbers he'd like, but it's clear his hard work is paying off on the ice.
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At the end of practice Monday, Seattle Kraken players dispersed all over the ice to get extra work in. They took shots, worked on faceoffs, tip drills, and chatted up the assistant coaches.
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One by one the players skated off the ice and back to the dressing room. The last player off the ice was Morgan Geekie, who stayed on the ice well after the rest of his teammates.
It’s a daily routine at Seattle Kraken practice, Geekie on the ice alone, sometimes for 20 minutes, and often to the point where he needs a moment sitting on the bench to catch his breath before retreating to the dressing room.
“That started when I was younger, my dad had a key to the rink,” Geekie, who grew up in small Strathclaire, Manitoba says. “And honestly, I love practice, but not necessarily the drills, it’s just about going out there and then after, and before, you can kind of do what you want and get what you need. Obviously, practice is important, but I think on top of doing everything that the team needs to do, take care of things that you think you can get better at.”
The extra work has led Geekie through a successful junior career, AHL stint, and now into the NHL.
He ended a lengthy goal drought Sunday night in San Jose with an impressive goal. After his initial shot was stopped by Sharks goalie James Reimer, Geekie quickly flicked the rebound over the goaltender for his fourth goal of the season.
Morgan Geekie levels up the scoring 👏#SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/gFSiYZDQ5q
— ROOT SPORTS™ | NW (@ROOTSPORTS_NW) February 28, 2022
Four goals are a NHL career-high for the 23-year-old Geekie but it was the first that he scored since Dec. 11.
Armed with a great shot, Geekie has scored at every level of hockey prior to becoming a full-time NHL player last season in Carolina. And while his goal totals this season may not be as high as expected, Geekie has been playing good hockey for the Seattle Kraken. He has a high-end work ethic, and the recent goal drought displayed his perseverance and patience.
The puck hasn’t gone in the net for him, but he’s been driving play, setting up teammates, all while being victimized by bad puck luck. The goal Sunday was not a surprise.
Not scoring is hard on players who are and have always been, scorers. It’s especially tough when you keep coming close and Geekie has worn the emotion that comes with the scoring struggle.
“It’s super frustrating, I don’t know if I have any other words other than that,” he says. “Everyone saw me break my stick on the bench. I’m sure there are guys in my situation who may be able to handle it better. It sucks, but at the end of the day it kind of comes with the territory. It’s going to happen, but the sun comes out tomorrow regardless of what happens.”
Geekie’s track record of scoring
After scoring 35 goals for the Tri-City Americans in 2017, Geekie was a third-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes and their general manager Ron Francis in the NHL Draft. He went back to Kennewick for one more 30-goal season in 2017-2018 prior to moving on to the American Hockey League.
As a young pro, he continued to show promise, scoring 19 and 22 goals with the Charlotte Checkers before making his NHL debut with the Hurricanes in 2020.
Last year he spent most of the season with Carolina in the NHL playing a limited role but Francis, aware of the potential he had, grabbed Geekie again in this July’s NHL Expansion Draft.
With the Kraken, his minutes are up on a nightly basis, he’s earned time on the Seattle power play and while his counting stats (goals and assists) are not where he’d like them, his underlying numbers are solid, and he’s been a positive possession player.
Hard work paying off
Geekie’s post-practice routine changes from day to day. He thinks about plays that didn’t go right from the previous games and what he could have done to make them right. That’s what he works on.
Was it a rebound put-back he missed? He’ll work on a better shot. Should he have passed the puck in a certain situation? He’ll drill on passing the puck.
He’s trying not to stress too much about scoring but rather on the rest of his game and it’s paying off.
“I think I’ve been playing really good hockey honestly, since Christmas,” he says. “I think I’ve played really well. I’ve gotten really good on faceoffs, obviously, there’s room for improvement. You can always get better, but I like where I’m at and working every day to get a little bit better. You don’t need to focus on scoring. I think that’s something that will kind of take care of itself.
“You’re definitely always thinking about how you’re going to create offense and things like that, but I think taking care of your own zone comes first. And I think that starts by winning face-offs and battles when the play starts.”
In last week’s loss to Vancouver, Geekie was arguably the best player on the ice. He was robbed of a goal on a spectacular save from Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko but Geekie and his linemates created chances and he drew three penalties against Vancouver.
“Geeks is still working his way into the league,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol says. “You take steps forward and at times you fall back and that’s frustrating. You have to keep working at it and he’s done that.”
Geekie has gone through a phase where points are hard to come by. It’s something every young player goes through, but he’s persevered and sees it as a valuable learning experience moving forward.
He’s trending in the right direction and the Kraken hope that the shots start ending up in the net. Geekie will keep working late after practice to fine-tune things as well as persevering through any future rough patches.
“Tomorrow’s a new day and I always just keep one foot in front of the other,” he says.
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