When Matt Filipe agreed to terms with the Boston Bruins last August on a two-year entry-level contract, it was a major step closer to fulfilling his dream of playing hockey at the highest level.
The Lynnfield, Mass. native, who grew up cheering for his hometown NHL club is a two-way, heavy winger with good speed and grit. A late-season injury with Providence of the AHL cost him the final few games of the COVID-shortened rookie campaign, but the 23-year-old is happy to be back to preparing for his sophomore effort.
Prior to signing his first pro contract, the 6-foot-2, 198-pounder spent all four years of his college eligibility skating for his childhood favorite team and first love, Northeastern University.
A winning player
After being the 67th overall selection of the Carolina Hurricanes and the second New England native drafted in 2016 (Chad Krys- 45th to Chicago), had a solid if unspectacular career with the Huskies, scoring 75 points in 136 career games. Perhaps not the most dangerous scorer on the teams he played on coming up through the ranks, he brought an impressive combination and size, speed and ruggedness. He was a key supporting piece on multiple winning Northeastern teams. Those attributes are what made him an attractive option for the Bruins.
He played 17 games in the AHL last season with a handful more in the ECHL, showing promise before suffering an upper body injury that ended his campaign. He was only recently cleared to resume skating and training again, and is looking forward to getting back in the right shape to begin his second pro season.
For love of the game
Filipe’s path as a player began with his father's influence on him at a young age.
“The first step for me was becoming a fan,” Filipe told New England Hockey Journal. “My dad played at Northeastern and he would bring me to the games every weekend. Growing up, Northeastern wasn’t really the powerhouse that they are now, and a lot of that credit goes to Coach (Jim) Madigan and Coach (Jerry) Keefe. But, I saw a lot of struggling teams when I was a kid. My dad would always tell me that if (the Huskies) ever won a Beanpot, he’d take me down to the locker room, but it never happened."
"So, for me growing up, it was my dad who really got me into hockey and Northeastern and from there I became a Bruins fan and fell in love with it at an early age. It seems like with social media nowadays that kids don’t get out as much, but for me, becoming a hockey player was so much more about seeing it firsthand and taking in the great atmosphere, and becoming a fan of the game.”
Filipe never got into the room as a youngster to see a Beanpot title, but he experienced it as a player. He checked off that elusive hockey bucket list item in style, with three consecutive Northeastern wins from 2018-20.
Filipe’s minor hockey was played in East Boston with the Middlesex Braves, and that path led him to Malden Catholic. Filipe played under former head coach John McLean, and credits him for having a major hand in his development. Filipe was a member of three of McLean’s five MIAA Super 8 championship squads, and captained the 2014-15 MC Lancers team.
From there, Filipe jumped to the USHL’s Cedar Rapids Roughriders in 2015-16, where he skated for three-time coach of the year and UMass Lowell grad Mark Carlson. His teammates on that team included Ross Colton, who played at the University of Vermont scored the 2021 Stanley Cup-clinching goal against Montreal. Also on the Cedar Rapids roster was current Providence teammate and fellow B’s prospect Jack Ahcan.
“Any kid who has the opportunity to play in the USHL, I think should," he said. "It’s a great route- it speaks for itself. You see how many players move on to play in college hockey and professional hockey.”
The jump to pro hockey
Filipe enjoyed his time in the Carolina system after being selected in the third round out of Cedar Rapids. He attended the organization’s development camps each summer, where he made a connection with a former Boston Bruins fan favorite in Sergei Samsonov.
“I have nothing bad to say about Carolina,” he said. “(Samsonov) worked with me on the ice and I talked to him frequently when I was here at Northeastern. I was a Bruins fan growing up and he was a great player for Boston, so for him to be that guy and key resource for me in college was great.”
Because Filipe did not sign with Carolina after spending all four years at NU, he became a free agent in August.
“At that point it was time for me to look at depth charts and see what players were in the system,” said Filipe. “At that point, Boston was one of the first teams that called me. It's a business but I feel like the Bruins were a great fit for me.”
Like many first-year pros, the speed difference from college hockey required a major adjustment, but Filipe expected that. The other major observation he had about the AHL game was more of a surprise.
“It was the nastiness, we had some really good battles,” he said. “Anytime you play only two other teams all season, it’s going to get heated. I think that something you might be able to do in college, you can’t get away with at the pro level, so you have to watch out for yourself because it was really nasty out there at times. It was fun playing.”
His number one priority is getting back into a hard training routine that will allow him take that next step in his development and hold up over the course of an entire pro hockey schedule in 2021-22.
Looking back on his path, Filipe is grateful for the experiences he’s had hockey. He's ready for the challenge of what comes next.
“I had a tremendous support system every step of the way,” he said. “I had great coaches and great teammates and great people who helped me get here.”
