The 26-year-old defenseman, who was a restricted free agent, avoided a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for Oct. 20.
"I think it was, especially me, knowing that I'm from Boston, I think I definitely wanted to avoid arbitration," Grzelcyk said Monday. "I think both sides had that in common and just about finding middle ground and wanting to find a fair deal for both sides and I feel like it moved pretty swiftly.
"Being from here and having the opportunity to play for the Bruins means so much to me. It wasn't more about wanting to bet on myself and try to get the most money possible. I think that I really wanted to, if possible, be locked up for as long as I could, and this is the place that I want to be and the opportunity I want to have."
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Grzelcyk has the opportunity for a bigger role. Torey Krug agreed to a seven-year, $45.5 million contract ($6.5 million average annual value) with the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 9 after nine seasons with Boston, and another defenseman who plays on the left side, 43-year-old captain Zdeno Chara, is an unrestricted free agent.
"As far as Matt's ceiling, I think it's a little bit to be determined, because of the opportunity and how well he plays," Sweeney said. "Obviously, there is a vacancy -- in seeing, allowing his offensive game to continue to grow, potentially and with a little more power-play opportunity, and again, it's player driven. I had a lot of conversations with our coaching staff about where they see the player fitting in and how he affects our transition game, his ability to move the puck and our D-zone exits. And the rest is up to Matt to take advantage of a pretty good opportunity for him moving forward."
Grzelcyk had NHL career highs in goals (four), assists (17) and points (21) in 68 regular-season games, and one assist in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Bruins last season.
"I think he's proven he can play in really any different position on the left side," Sweeney said. "He's had a consistent partner in Kevan Miller over a period of time, he's slid in and played with Brandon [Carlo], certainly with Charlie [McAvoy] in offensive situations. It might just depend on the matchup the coaches feel comfortable with moving forward. I think his ice time has been fairly consistent, even strength over the last three years. And we'll continue to look at advantageous positions that we can put Matt into to help our transition game, get him involved in the offense."
Selected by Boston in the third round (No. 85) of the 2012 NHL Draft, Grzelcyk has scored 54 points (10 goals, 44 assists) in 197 regular-season games and 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 43 playoff games. He said getting a new contract adds more pressure to live up to it and exceed expectations.
"They've had the trust in me to want to sign me to a longer-term contract," Grzelcyk said, "and that is something that I'm focused more, is improving my overall game and wanting to come back each year a better player and be able to look myself in the mirror each year and know at the end that that no matter what, I gave it everything I had and I wanted to live up and I wanted to produce. Not only offensively but just being an overall better defenseman. That's something I'm focused on every day."
