Chiasson’s best bet this time is the Bruins

NHL training camps are getting ready to open, the new season is only some six weeks away, and that means Alex Chiasson is betting again, with both hands and both feet. No one in the NHL beats the house odds as consistently as this guy when it comes to wagering on himself.

Chiasson, 32, agreed to report to Bruins camp Sept. 20 on a professional tryout agreement, promised nothing but some space to pull on his skates at the club’s Brighton workout facility and a chance to catch the eye of coach Jim Montgomery.

Chiasson knows the auditioning drill better than anyone. A veteran of 651 NHL games, this will be the fifth time Chiasson has reported to an NHL training camp on a PTO. He landed a job the first three times, first with Washington (2017), then Edmonton (’18), and next in Vancouver (’21). Last September, after not securing a job with the Coyotes, he ultimately landed a late-season spot on Detroit’s NHL roster after a protracted tuneup with the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“I took my hockey bag, a backpack and suitcase," said Chiasson, recalling his job-seeking journey last season that finally brought him to Detroit, where he cobbled together a respectable 6-3—9 line in 20 games, “and I lived out of a hotel room in Grand Rapids for almost three months. It was a good end of the year there, and I was hopeful things would work out, but the business end of things . . . it can be a tough business.”

The PTO path can be especially cruel. It worked out ideally here in the fall of ’07 for journeyman forward Glen Metropolit, invited by then-Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. Metro played all 82 games, the No. 3 center behind Marc Savard and Marco Sturm, and had 33 points.

But such hits are rare. In recent years, another veteran forward, Ted Purcell, showed some impressive flashes in his Sept. ’17 tryout with the Bruins, but did not make the cut. He finished his career with a short twirl for KHL Omsk in Russia. Veteran blue liner Anton Stralman succeeded with his audition here last September, secured a one-year contract for a guaranteed $1 million, but suited up for only eight games with the varsity.

Ever a realist, and a successful one when sizing up opportunity, Chiasson said he received “a fair number” of PTO offers this summer, but ultimately chose the Bruins because: 1. Offseason roster moves created some potential openings for a veteran right winger with his skills; 2. His desire to play for a Cup contender.

“So here I am,” said Chiasson, who played at Boston University, a threeyear tour (2009-12) prior turning pro with Dallas. “I have to fight again to prove that I can play and help a team out. I felt from all the options I had, Boston was the best spot, and I’m excited to be here.”

It’s ostensibly a homecoming for Chiasson, who decided with wife Riley

in the spring to make Boston their permanent offseason home, moving here some three months before the Bruins offered the PTO.

Chiasson, who grew up outside of Quebec City, felt compelled to make the move back to the Hub largely in part because of his BU days.

Upon leaving Comm. Ave. in the spring of 2012, he stood six courses short of completing his degree in economics. Now living just a few miles west of the campus, he said he fully intends to tidy up the course work, the majority of which has to be taken in classrooms rather than online.

In the immediate, though, he hopes to stay gainfully employed some seven miles east of the BU campus, with a Bruins hard hat on his head. The mortarboard cap can wait.

For all his years in the league, Chiasson’s best fit came during his three seasons in Edmonton, where he landed his initial roster spot with his PTO and then knocked home 22 goals in his first year, riding with evolving superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

“I’m sure that helped,” said Chiasson, chuckling over the good fortune of being on that line. “Yeah, I had 22, and to be completely honest, I probably should have had over 30, easily. I think I was at the right spot at the right time, and had just won a Cup with Washington (2018), felt comfortable, and Edmonton was an up-and-coming team. The staff was expecting some kind of leadership out of me.

“Really a great group. I enjoyed it there, and obviously, they’ve gone on, evolved, and they’re fighting for a Cup every year now.”

Over his three years in Alberta, the 6-foot-4-inch, 208-pound Chiasson played up and down the order, often in the top six, sometimes in the top nine, called on frequently for power-play duty.

“I was put in a lot of different positions,” he said. “My role has kind of changed . . . as you age and stuff. But I know what I can do. I think I’ve shown that I can play throughout the lineup. I can be a fourth-line guy. I can play on the first power play. I can play in the top six when guys are injured.

“Now it’s on me to show up in camp and show them what I can do. I’ve obviously played in the league for a while. But at the same time, you’ve got to go, you have to battle, you have to earn it, and that’s the way it’s been throughout my career.”