The Bruins acquired left wing Pat Maroon from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline on Friday. Maroon has played for three Stanley Cup winners, one with St. Louis and two with Tampa Bay. George Walker IV/Associated Press
The Boston Bruins acquired big, physical winger Pat Maroon from the Minnesota Wild for AHL winger Luke Toporowski and a 2026 sixth-round conditional draft pick on Friday.
The pick is only transferred if Maroon plays at least one playoff game for the Bruins this spring.
After back surgery in February, Maroon is currently on injured reserve and is believed to be at least a couple of weeks away from playing. According to capfriendly.com, the Bruins immediately put Maroon and his $800,000 salary on long-term injured reserve.
The Bruins also added some size on defense, sending Jakub Zboril and a third-round pick in 2027 to the Columbus Blue Jackets for 6-foot-3, 210-pound defenseman Andrew Peeke, a 2016 second-rounder. In 23 games this year, Peeke had one goal and seven assists and was minus-2 this year. Last season, he had 6-7-13 and was a whopping minus-41 in 80 games.
Peeke is longer term investment. He has two more years left at $2.75 million.
To fit the new trade additions under the salary cap, the Bruins placed Derek Forbort on long-term injured reserve. General Manager Don Sweeney said the defenseman’s injuries will require surgery and will likely end his season.
Zboril, the first of three first-round draft picks for the Bruins in 2015 (13th overall), had been buried in Providence this year and passed through waivers twice with no takers.
Maroon, 35, comes with a resume of winning. He won three straight Stanley Cups starting in 2019, first as a member of the St. Louis Blues when they beat the Bruins in the final, then two straight with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
At 6-foot-3, 234 pounds, Maroon is a tough, left-shot wing, who has shied away from no one in his career, including several bouts against former Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara.
THE BRUINS also signed defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to one-year, $800,000 extension. For a guy who spent the better part of six years in the AHL, the deal was a nice validation for his journey.
“I spent a lot of time in the minors and for them to give me an opportunity has been huge,” said Wotherspoon. “When I as down there, all I wanted was to be ready for this opportunity and when they gave it to me, I would take it.”
LINUS ULLMARK has a 16-team no-trade list and he reportedly used it to remain with the Bruins.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, on the network’s trade deadline special, reported that Ullmark nixed a deal largely for geographic reasons. Weekes didn’t specify the team.
The team might have been New Jersey, which has been looking for a goalie. They ended up making a separate deal for Jake Allen.
Ullmark has been the subject of trade rumors over the last two weeks leading up to Friday’s NHL trade deadline. Ullmark, who won the Vezina Trophy last year, makes sense as a trade piece because the Bruins have few prospects or draft capital to trade and very little maneuverability under the salary cap. Because Jeremy Swayman has played well enough to potentially trust as a true No. 1 goalie, moving Ullmark would have fetched something in return and clear $5 million under the cap.
Ullmark is 16-7-7 with a 2.77 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
FINES: One Bruin and one Maple Leaf will be writing big checks for throwing crosschecks on Thursday.
According to the NHL Department of Player Safety, Toronto’s Jake McCabe was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable for cross-checking Bruins captain Brad Marchand in the throat on Thursday at 3:54 of the first period.
Boston forward Charlie Coyle will lose the same amount for cross-checking Toronto forward and former teammate Tyler Bertuzzi at 4:56 of the second period.
The Bruins beat Toronto, 4-1, in a game that got chippy quickly between the two rivals.
HE STILL NEEDS to check a few final boxes, but the Bruins expect to have Hampus Lindholm back in the lineup Saturday when they host the Penguins.
“We’ll have a definitive answer (on Saturday), but it looks like he is probable,” Bruins Coach Jim Montgomery said. “I’m not going to say 100 percent because he has to go through the last stages here.”
Lindholm hasn’t played since suffering an injury on Feb. 19 against the Dallas Stars following an awkward collision in the corner.
“I feel really good. Hopefully playing there tomorrow,” Lindholm said. “The treatment staff has been really good.”
While he hasn’t been as good as he was last year when he received Norris Trophy consideration, Lindholm has been a key part of the Bruins defense averaging 23:42 of ice time per game. The 30-year-old Swede has a goal and 18 assists for 19 points.
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