Can Matej Blumel be the best surprise for Bruins in training camp?

All Matej Blumel is looking for NHL-level lenses.

The 25-year-old winger seems to have checked every box as the AHL extension.

In his past two seasons at the AHL branch of the Dallas Star, Brummel lit the light 70 times in 139 games, finally hitting the final with a league-leading 39 points in the 2024-25 season.

These efforts have hardly exceeded a few cups of coffee on the depth map of Deep Dallas. Overall, Blumel has only 13 games with the stars, scoring two goals.

Given the end of Jupiter with the stars, Blumel looked for a clean slate in the open market last summer and a team willing to provide a long-term runway for unproven talent during the accumulation of the 2025-26 season.

Blumel, who signed a one-year contract with Boston in July, believes he found the ideal place for the initial six franchises.

“Sometimes it’s very frustrating,” Brummel said of time with Dallas. “I was going camping last year and I wanted to win a place. I didn’t make money for the third year in a row. So, in the first few months, it was really frustrating.

“But after that, I was like – let’s play hockey and then see it gets my place.

Given Blumel's work in the AHL and Boston's clear need for further scoring punches in the mid-six group, it's not surprising that Marco Sturm and Bruins seem to make Blumel successful at the start of Camp.

Two days before camp, Brummel skated with Czech striker Pavel Zacha, and another expected lineup from Tanner Jeannot.

In most cases, it's a fruitless adventure that can swing through the first few days of a three-week training camp.

But when Sturm tried to find offensive chemistry sources beyond the highest trio of David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm and Boston's new coach Morgan Geekie, his new coach needed to identify the “skaters” who could build a strong swing.

Therefore, shot-first Brumel may record more representatives with his fellow countrymen in Zacha.

“It kind of combines everything,” Sturm said when asked about his approach to building lines. “It could be a veteran. It could be a young man. It could be a language. For example, for example, Zacha and Blumel. That's what I was thinking, 'Oh, they've had good chemistry already.' I think Blumel is a scorer, so maybe he'll be a good guy for Zacha.”

Blumel noted that Boston's Czech players in the lineups of Pastrnak and Zacha did play a role in his decision to join the team, spending his first week in his new city in Zacha's apartment to acquire the status of the land.

“It has an impact on my decision [to sign]because last year we didn't have any Czech guys in the Dallas organization. ” …You want to have some Czech players around [they] Can lift you up, pick you up, and help you a little. ”

Blumel's production at the AHL level does not guarantee further success in the NHL.

But Blumel's shot-first and versatile offensive skills clearly caught Sturm's attention, and the Bruins have admitted that the ongoing 5-on-5 scoring could be a struggle unless the auxiliary player rises.

“He’s an interesting guy,” Sturm said of Brummel. “He played in Texas and we played two games with him. I remember those two games, and he was one of the guys we had to make sure, 'We had to cover up this guy because he was a good shooter and scorer. Especially in the power game, Leon Draisaitl hangs around and he has this status [in the right circle]. He is so dangerous that we really have to beat him first.

That being said, in the NHL game, he doesn't have those 20 minutes a night. net. ”

The responsibility will have to fall on Blumel to verify the belief Sturm expressed in him over the next few weeks. If he could pour a few ice hockey cups in the preseason, the cycling shotgun next to Zach could be the card for the young winger.

Most importantly, there is the chance to make your mark at the highest level of hockey.

“I always like to score,” Brummel said. “I always liked offense, but in my last three years in the AHL, I had a great coaching group – they helped me get better on both sides of the rink.

“So, I think I really like the offense, I scored goals. But I could also help on the other end of the ice… whatever role I play, I will accept it.”

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering Boston.com’s Brown Bears, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox, a role he has held since 2023.