Bruins Top 25 Under 25: #12 Seth Griffith

Seth Griffith

C/RW / Boston Bruins

Height: 5-10
Weight: 185
Born: January 4, 1993
2012-2013 Numbers: London Knights: 33-38-81, 54GP; Playoffs 9-16-25, 21GP; Memorial Cup 3-3-6, 5GP
2012-2013 NHLe: 0.41PPG

Seth Griffith will be one of two places this season: either playing his overage year with the London Knights, or making his pro debut for the Providence Bruins. Drafted as a 19-year-old in the fifth round in 2012, Griffith may very well turn out to be an absolute late-round steal. With 110 points in 80 games last year for London, Griffith was second in points only to 2013 first rounder Max Domi - and that's having played ten fewer games than most of the other high-scorers on his team. Despite the NHLe of the OHL only being 0.3, Griffith still manages a pretty high NHLe PPG, at 0.41.

Griffith signed a three-year entry level deal with the Bruins last April, and considering how well he did last year, the likelihood of him turning pro is pretty high. He missed a portion of the season last year with a broken hand; until that injury, he hadn't missed a game in four seasons. Until that point, he'd also held the OHL scoring title.

From the London Metro:

When you do the math, his iron man streak lasted 256 regular season matches, split between the Knights and St. Mary’s Lincolns (Jr. B). He also dressed for 40 Ontario Hockey League playoff games, as well as four Memorial Cup contests.

So, is he sulking on the sidelines? Not exactly.

"Sitting out and watching a few games, I think it’s going to really help me when I come back," he said. "It obviously sucks I haven’t been playing, but you have to look on the bright side."

That article's a good read if you want to get a handle on Griffith's general attitude about being injured, it's pretty interesting. During his time with the Knights, they went on a crazy 25-game winning streak, and came incredibly close to winning a Memorial Cup two years straight.

From this article, on his OHL playoff experience:

Although his team fell short, Griffith stepped it up in the playoffs leading his team in goals (3) and assists (3) and registered at least one point in the five Memorial Cup games he played. For the whole playoffs, including the OHL playoffs, Griffith registered 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points in only 21 games.

Reflecting on this experience, Griffith said, "Yeah it was great. I think the best organization in the OHL and maybe the CHL just from what I’ve heard and what I’ve been around so far. A lot of great coaches and that’s just one small step in why we went on a twenty five game winning streak. We were one win away from a CHL record, an Ontario Hockey League record so we just fell short."

"Our main goal in the end was to win another OHL championship and we did that. I guess we just fell short of getting the Memorial Cup but it was a great experience for me again too."

Overall he's an intriguing prospect with a pretty high upside, who happens to model his game after Patrice Bergeron. Can't really go wrong there.

Our Rankings:

The general consensus seems to agree with the findings on Griffith's potential: we've almost all got him in the top 15, with a few top 10s. I have a feeling we're going to start hearing his name a lot more now that he's in Providence, and if he transitions into the pros the way he's expected to, maybe he'll get a look at that third line RW spot as well. OPTIONS, BABY, OPTIONS!