Alex Steeves certainly didn’t plan it, but it was a happy coincidence that his first two NHL games with his new organization just happened to be against the team with whom he’d been trying to stick for four years.
“Yeah, there’s always a story line,” said Steeves with a grin on Tuesday morning ahead of the Bruins-Maple Leafs matchup.
Subbing in for the injured Casey Mittelstadt (lower body) on the second line with Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson, Steeves played well against the Leafs on Saturday in the first half of the home-and-home series. He caused a turnover and then applied forechecking pressure that led to Arvidsson’s opportunistic goal in the Bruins’ 5-3 win over Toronto. He also dished out a team-high five hits in 13:22 of ice time.
In his first chance with the Bruins, Steeves was reasonably pleased with his performance.
“It felt solid,” said Steeves. “I thought I created a lot with my physicality and skating and just straight lines, trying to get pucks back and get it to those guys. I think the next step for me is just being more comfortable offensively and holding onto pucks a little longer and getting it to the net.”
The undrafted forward out of Notre Dame had a strong run with the Marlies, the Leafs’ AHL affiliate. Over four full years, he scored 23, 19, 27, and 36 goals, three times topping the 50-point plateau. But after seeing just 14 NHL games in that span, he decided there might be better opportunities elsewhere when he hit free agency last season.
“At the end of the day, it’s not that I didn’t want to stay or anything like that. It’s just after four years of feeling like I had done everything I could at the American league level, even in some isolated call-ups for two, three games at a time,” said the St. Paul, Minnesota native.
“I felt like I had done enough to merit more of an opportunity and an extended look but I never got one. There’s no bad blood or anything like that but eventually there comes a time where, I feel like I’m still really young, I’m 25, but also I had my first opportunity to test the market and see if I could find an extended look elsewhere. Because for me, I’m at the point in my career where I felt like I’ve proved pretty much everything I can in the American league and now it’s time to find out if I can consistently be an NHLer. Looking at all my options, I felt like Boston was a really good opportunity. I’m trying to make the most of it now.”
It’s not that Steeves can’t be self-critical. He looks back on his training camp and concedes that he didn’t exactly tear it up.
“I don’t think it was my best,” he admitted. “There were some things that kind of knocked my confidence early. The minus-3 game early (in the preseason opener against Washington) kind of knocked my confidence, hitting the post in that game, missing a breakaway. I still thought I played well and the minuses were largely out of my control, but for some reason I was just kind of in a funk and then working to get out of it the rest of the way.
“I thought I did some good things but didn’t find the back of the net. But camp’s over now and I feel like I’ve gotten off to a good start down there (3-5-8 in nine games in Providence) and now I feel like now I’m here, so now I just have to move forward.”
One would certainly think when Mittelstadt is healthy, he’ll get the job on the second line back. That unit has become the team’s most reliable. But Steeves can bring value in that his skill set could fit in the top six or in a fourth-line grinder role.
“That’s one of the things I pride myself on as a player. I think I can do a little bit of everything,” said Steeves. “I’ve shown for the past four years in the American league that I have skill. I can definitely score and make plays and stuff like that. This is kind of my first opportunity in the NHL to play up in the lines and I think however long that opportunity lasts, I’ll work to make it last as long as I can.
“It’s up to me to get more and more comfortable every game and show some of those traits that I’ve shown down there on a consistent level up here. Defensively, physicality, stuff like that, I’ve shown with the Leafs that I can play the role on the fourth line. I feel like I’m really good at that, too.
“I feel for a player like me who’s trying to break in, it’s important to give the coach options to keep you in the lineup. That’s something that I try to do.”
With Charlie McAvoy back in the lineup after missing Saturday’s game on a personal matter, Jonathan Aspirot was the odd man out on the blue line. A new third pairing of Mason Lohrei and Henri Jokiharju was set to get a look.
“Aspy did absolutely nothing wrong. I liked his game. He will be back at one point,” said coach Marco Sturm. “I just want to see those guys. I thought Mason deserves to play. He played good enough. Hopefully they can stabilize that third pair and those kind of minutes we need throughout the game.”
In other news, Elias Lindholm, who has been out since October 30 with a suspected knee injury, hit the ice prior to the Bruins’ morning skate. It was his first time skating since suffering the injury when he collided knees with Buffalo’s Jordan Greenway.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/11/bruins-notebook-alex-steeves-trying-to-make-case-for-himself/