The Boston Bruins added another player with Stanley Cup-winning experience to their roster shortly before Friday's NHL trade deadline by acquiring forward Pat Maroon from the Minnesota Wild.
The cost to make the move was pretty low -- a conditional 2026 sixth-round pick and AHL defenseman Luke Toporowski.
Maroon brings a few valuable traits to the Bruins. He's a big presence, both on and off the ice. He's 6-foot-4 and 231 pounds, and he uses his size to play a physical brand of hockey on every shift and annoy the crap out of opponents.
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Maroon is the perfect player to handle the types of shenanigans we saw from the Toronto Maple Leafs in Thursday's game at TD Garden. The veteran wing is never afraid to fight and is quick to stand up for teammates. He's a leader off the ice and a respected veteran who knows what it takes to win.
Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was teammates with Maroon on the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2019-20 season and likes what he brings to Boston.
"He's great. He's a close friend," Shattenkirk told reporters after practice, per WEEI's Scott McLaughlin. "I think he's accepted his role as the type of player that he is. He's a presence on the ice, but he still can play. Knows how to get pucks out of the zone off the wing, which is crucial this time of year.
"He's great down low in the offensive zone holding on to pucks and wearing teams down. Then obviously the other factor is he’s a big body and he doesn't shy away from that aspect of the game -- chirping, fighting. That's a valuable asset for us this time of year."
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Maroon is not a dynamic offensive player by any means, but he does have 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 60 games, which is two more than he had in 80 games for the Lightning last season. He'll provide a little scoring depth in the bottom six.
The 35-year-old forward also brings enormous playoff experience and recently won three consecutive Stanley Cup titles -- 2019 with the St. Louis Blues, as well as 2020 and 2021 with the Lightning. Maroon has played in 150 career playoff games, and he's actually been fairly productive offensively with 51 points (23 goals, 28 assists) in those matchups.
It's not yet known when Maroon will debut for the Bruins. It won't happen immediately, though.
The Athletic's Michael Russo reported Friday that "Maroon underwent back surgery in early February and just recently started skating lightly. It’s believed he’ll be ready to debut for Boston near the end of this month."
Maroon doesn't give the Bruins another middle-six forward. He's not a center, so he doesn't address Boston's weakness on faceoffs, either. But he does bring some much-needed physicality to the bottom-six and someone who will relish the grind of the playoffs and set the right tone each night.