The Boston Bruins made a small splash at the NHL Trade Deadline by acquiring three-time Stanley Cup Champion Pat Maroon (with the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning) from the Minnesota Wild. He appears to have stolen the spot of fellow veteran James Van Riemsdyk.
Pat Maroon, who has played nearly 800 games in the NHL and provides grit and physicality is the ideal player to bring in for a cup run, especially considering his incredibly playoff experience.
His grit has now led him to stealing a spot in the lineup from fellow veteran winger James Van Riemsdyk, whose 1000 games in the NHL and over 0.5PPG season has just not been enough.
The Bruins lineup today is as such:
Heinen-Zacha-Pastrnak
Marchand-Coyle-DeBrusk
Beecher-Geekie-Frederic
Lauko-Boqvist-Maroon
Van Riemsdyk
Lindholm-McAvoy
Grzelcyk-Carlo
Shattenkirk-Peeke
Forbort (nc)-Wotherspoon
Ullmark
Swayman
This will mark Pat Maroon's Bruins debut. It will be exciting to see him throw on the spoked B for the first time, especially considering his troubled history with the Boston Bruins organization's infamous reporter Jack Edwards.
The Bruins organization likely hopes that this will be a wakeup call for the former second overall pick, who has lulled in play down the stretch.
If van Riemsdyk ends up officially being scratched, the hope from here will be that it becomes the spark that helps him heat back up. Despite his tough play down the stretch, he still has 11 goals, 38 points, and a plus-7 rating in 70 games. The potential for him to bounce back is there.
- Michael DeRosa
Latest 10 stories
