With his new-look buzz cut, Alex Steeves fit right in at TD Garden’s annual Back-to-School event on Wednesday.

And just as the Boston Public School kids who received backpacks, school supplies and winter coats were getting ready for the new school year, Steeves is gearing up for a new season’s challenge.

As an undrafted free agent, challenges are nothing new for Steeves. The 26-year-old Notre Dame product spent four full seasons in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization but did not see meaningful NHL time until last season after signing with the Bruins.

After being recalled from Providence early in the season, Steeves got in a career-high 43 NHL games and played well enough to earn a two-year contract worth an AAV of $1.625 million.

But Steeves hardly has it made. If you include Lukas Reichel (obtained at the deadline), Ivan Ivan (who came back in the Fabian Lysell trade), unsigned RFA Matt Poitras and 2025 No. 7 overall pick James Hagens, Steeves will be one of 17 viable forwards who have a shot at making the roster when training camp opens next month. That’s a crowded field.

His season last year got him a foot in the door. Maybe a foot and a half. But the St. Paul, Minn., native knows he cannot take anything for granted, even though he’s trying to keep a cool head about his situation.

“I think sometimes in the past I’ve carried so much stress going into the camp and you wonder about what’s this is going to be, what’s that going to be. I really just want to go into this camp thinking about how can I make this team better, how can I show that I’m the guy for that job,” said Steeves. “I think it’s probably not worthwhile to think about other people too much, just because there’s so much organizationally that’s out of my control. So I’m just trying to go in with confidence and playing my best hockey. That’s all I can really do.”

Steeves finished with a 9-7-16 line and was plus-6 in those 43 games. He was not wild about how his season ended, when he seemed to be a healthy scratch more often than not. He took that frustration with him to the World Championships and Team USA. Though the young American side didn’t fare that well, Steeves did have a good tourney, with a goal and two assists in eight games.

He went there with both team and personal goals in mind.

“It was an awesome experience. I’m so grateful I had that opportunity. To be honest, with how things went after the Olympic break, I wanted to treat it like training,” said Steeves. “Obviously, you’re there in the team environment and playing for your country and all that stuff. But at an individual level, I really wanted to treat it as an opportunity to get games in, play my game, regain some confidence. I was fortunate to grab a pretty good role on the team and play a lot of ice time and up in the lineup. It was awesome. I had some amazing coaches, management, teammates. It’s one of those things where you don’t hesitate to say yes because you’re playing for your country, but you don’t know how it’s going to go. And it was an unbelievable experience.”

Steeves made an immediate impact when he was called up last season, but then things petered out. After notching a goal an assist in road games against the Panthers and Lightning just before the Olympic break, Steeves played in just six regular season games after the break, as well as two playoff games. Between March 16 and April 7, he did not sniff the ice.

“In January, I think I maybe hit a little bit of a rookie wall. But then I felt like I ended pretty well on that Florida trip,” said Steeves, who has spent much of the offseason in Boston while his fiancée Catherine gets settled in her downtown job.

“Then I got back from the Olympic break and there just weren’t as many opportunities. For me, it’s just controlling what I can control. I’m really working on my conditioning for this offseason to be able to stay effective with the hard schedule and then just growing my game. This is where I want to be. I want to be an important player on this team, so how can I position myself to do that? That’s how I approached the offseason. And obviously there’s no lack of motivation, given how much time I spent up in the press box. I definitely carried that pain with me to push myself in the offseason.”

As unsatisfying as the end of his season was, Steeves was proud of the way he played to earn his contract. When he didn’t make the team out of training camp, he put his head down and went to work, soon earning a promotion to the big club.

He views his season as something solid on which he can build. After failing to gain traction in Toronto in four seasons, he knows how hard it is to make an NHL roster, especially for a guy who was not drafted. Steeves does not dismiss that accomplishment.

But the contract he earned last January is not a laurel upon which he intends to rest.

“To be honest, (the contract) doesn’t really help. I don’t feel like I’ve made it,” said Steeves. “I’ll feel like I’ve made it when I’m a guy who never comes out of the lineup and is a real stable NHLer. I know I am that caliber of a player and I know I’m getting better. But the way things ended last year, there’s no complacency in my game or who I am as a person.”