FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A.J. Greer had a choice.
The forward could focus on being the player he always envisioned he’d be and earn a respectable income in the American Hockey League.
Or he could change his game and accept a limited -- but important -- role and potentially find a home in the NHL.
He was midway through his 20s in 2020-21, not finding the footing in hockey he’d hoped to find. His agent, Philippe Lecavalier, laid out the options clearly.
“[He] just told me there’s two routes you can take: You can either take this route and you can be an AHL player and score a few goals here and there, make a couple-hundred thousand, or you can live you dream out, be an AHL player, play a fourth-line role, hit, play the right way defensively and when opportunities come, you’re ready for them,” Greer said.
Greer chose the latter.
It’s why he finds himself in his third consecutive season as a full-time NHL player, getting set to make his Stanley Cup Final debut in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC). He missed the last two games of the Eastern Conference Final with an undisclosed injury.
“I had to finish every check,” Greer said. “I had to kind of embrace the role of playing four, five, six minutes a night and being able to have an impact and being able to do the right things with those kind of minutes, whereas I’d say when I was younger, I wasn’t used to that, nor was I mentally ready to accept the fact that that was going to be my role.
“And so, I thought negatively about the way that I was getting played and the way that things were rolling out, and I was always kind of playing that victim mindset. I had to kind of change the way I thought and really appreciate where I was.”
He made his peace. Now, he’s here.
The forward was limited to 4:22 of ice time in Game 5 of the conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes on May 28 because of his injury, which forced him to miss Game 4. He has three points (two goals, one assist) in 12 games this postseason.
With Greer returning, Jesper Boqvist will be scratched; the forward has five points (two goals, three assists) in 13 playoff games.
"It's great,” said Greer, who had 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 81 regular-season games. “I really hated watching from up top and not being with the guys and not being on the bench and not being able to play. But I had to make a decision that was going to be helpful to the team and helpful to what we're trying to accomplish, and if I can't be 100 percent, I'm not playing the right way.”
Before Greer made his mentality change, he played sparingly in the NHL after leaving Boston University. He played five games for the Colorado Avalanche in 2016-17, 17 in 2017-18, 15 in 2018-19, and none at all in 2019-20.
It was when he was with Bridgeport of the AHL the next season when he considered leaving his NHL dream behind.
“When I was in Bridgeport, I wasn’t playing well, I was going through off-ice stuff,” Greer said. “I was pretty much 24 hours away from just calling it, going to Europe, trying to just get a paycheck, trying to squeeze out every dollar I can out of this sport and then life my life.
But fortunately, things kind of bounced my way. I got a trade, a new beginning and from there, I kind of just learned from where I was, there. Kind of just went day by day, got better mentally, physically, and matured with my game.”
On April 7, 2021, Greer was traded to the New Jersey Devils along with Mason Jobst, a first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft for Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac.
“I understood if I wanted to ever play in the NHL again, the way I have to play and the things I have to do and I got a chance,” Greer said. “So, I’m very grateful for that. And it all led up to here.”
After getting nine games with the Devils and 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) with Utica of the AHL in 2021-22, Greer has exclusively played in the NHL, with the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames and the Panthers.
“He’s a pain to play against,” Florida forward Evan Rodrigues said. “He’s a guy that can change the momentum of a game. He’s heavy on the forecheck. For the most part, I don’t think you want to get hit by him.
“Overall, he’s a really good presence for us and he chips in offensively. He lays the body. Just overall a pain the neck to play against.”
Greer emphasized he wasn’t trying to put too much emphasis on any one game, even one in the Stanley Cup Final, but he admitted it was something he’s always thought about, through video game days and the Cup Final on TV, through playing in the Memorial Cup in 2016.
Now, it was here.
“These are the moments that you really work for and these are the moments that when you’re not really wanting to go to the rink, when you don’t feel like you’re having a great day in the gym or anything, you try to push through that because these are the moments that motivate you and make you prepare for what’s to come,” Greer said.
“It’s definitely a dream come true.”
