Boston Bruins announced over the weekend that they have inked defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a four-year deal, allowing the two sides to avoid arbitration.
Grzelcyk, who was born in Boston and grew up just a mile from the Bruins’ arena, will get $14.5 million throughout his new contract. This includes $2.25 million in base salary next season, $4 million in 2021/22, and $4.25 million in both 2022/23 and 2023/24 NHL season.
Despite the shortened season, Grzelcyk finished the 2019/20 with career highs in all departments. He played 68 games while contributing with seven goals and 14 assists for a total of 21 points.
This made Bruins believe the 26-year-old Grzelcyk can make an even bigger leap in the future year, which is why they made a push to come to terms with Grzelcyk before the arbitration hearing on Tuesday. The two sides eventually managed to agree in the past few days and hammer out a deal that everyone can be happy with.
“We’re excited to have Matt signed … It took a while to find a landing spot. There are a lot of variables in play,” Bruins Don Sweeney told reporters after the deal was confirmed. “As far as how far apart we were, we had a gap. We had to breach some things. We had to work at it.”
Matt Grzelcyk was selected by Boston Bruins in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft with the 85th overall pick. He spent the following four years at college before making his NHL debut during the 2016/17 season.
Grzelcyk has 197 NHL games under his belt, having contributed with 10 goals and 44 assists.
