Matt Beleskey
LW | 6' 0" | 207 lb | Age: 32 | Boston Bruins
Born: June 7, 1988
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Birthplace: Windsor, ON, CAN
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Shoots: Left
Born in Windsor, Ontario, on the United States-Canada border, Beleskey grew up in the small town of Midhurst, near Toronto.
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His four-season junior career with Belleville of the Ontario Hockey League showed substantial growth each season, from 10 goals and 23 points, to 20 goals and 40 points, to 27 goals and 68 points to, finally, 41 goals and 90 points.
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Added to that was a competitive nature - he stockpiled over 100 penalty minutes in each season.
Two years into that apprenticeship, the Anaheim Ducks selected him in the fourth round (No. 112) of the 2006 NHL Draft.
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As a farewell to the junior ranks, Beleskey led Belleville on a prolonged playoff march, knocking off Peterborough, Barrie and Oshawa before losing to Kitchener in a seven-game OHL championship series. Beleskey scored an impressive 12 goals and 33 points in 21 postseason games.
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Turning pro for the 2008-09 season, Beleskey wedged two NHL games with the Ducks into a season spent primarily with the Iowa of the American Hockey League.
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In Anaheim, on a roster loaded with gifted offensive talent, Beleskey struggled to find his scoring touch, and he spent the next four seasons shuttling between several teams in the AHL and the Ducks. The breakthrough finally came in 2014-2015, when Beleskey scored 22 goals and 32 points in 65 games.
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An unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2015, Beleskey signed a five-year contract with the Boston Bruins and produced 15 goals and 37 points in 80 games in 2015-16.
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NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
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Signed as a free agent by Coventry (Britain), October 9, 2012.
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Signed as a free agent by Boston, July 1, 2015.
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Traded to NY Rangers by Boston with Ryan Spooner, Ryan Lindgren, Boston's 1st round pick in 2018 NHL Draft and Boston's 7th round pick in 2019 NHL Draft for Rick Nash, February 25, 2018.