The Boston Bruins recalled Alex Steeves on Saturday ahead of the team’s road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Steeves signed with the Maple Leafs out of college in 2021 as an undrafted free agent. He spent four years in Toronto’s organization and appeared in 14 NHL games over that stretch.
Yet, this offseason, Steeves signed a one-year, $850,000 deal with the Bruins. With Elias Lindholm being placed on injured reserve, Boston recalled Steeves, who’s expected to draw into the lineup.
Although he’s returning to Toronto, Steeves makes it clear this isn’t a revenge game as he has no bad blood with the Maple Leafs organization.
“I absolutely wouldn’t trade my four years here for anything,” Steeves said on Saturday, via TSN. “I grew so much as a person, as a player, I played for two great regimes, ultimately I just decided I wanted to see what kind of other opportunities were out there because, you know, I wasn’t able to break in here, and you know, there’s no bad blood or anything. I only have good things to say about Toronto.”
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Instead, Steeves relished his time in Toronto and is glad to be returning to the city as a member of the Bruins.
“It was some of the best years of my life. I still text with some of my buddies, mainly from the Marlies, every day. I never expected to get so close with guys like I did in college, but, you know, four years on one team is a really long time at this level, and I loved it. Really just made unbelievable friends and teammates, staff members.”
Steeves will be making his Bruins debut on Saturday. In the AHL, he has three goals and five assists for eight points in nine games.
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