Bruins Trade Talk: Would Pat Maroon Make Sense?

Should the Boston Bruins consider what it would cost to acquire Minnesota Wild winger Pat Maroon?

On more than one occasion during their recent three-game skid, Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery openly pleaded for his team to be more physical and tougher to play against.

“A lot of it gets back to checking. I think we’ve just been an easy team to play against. Not just the last three games, but probably the last six, seven,” Montgomery said last Wednesday in the aftermath of an embarrassing 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 27.

The following night, his team finally showed that team toughness he was asking for when defenseman Derek Forbort and winger Trent Frederic exacted revenge on San Jose Sharks winger Givani Smith for a hit-from-behind on Bruins captain Brad Marchand. Still, though, ever since Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic was arrested and charged in a domestic violence incident, some Bruins fans and even media have suggested that the Bruins need to replace his intimidating presence in the lineup.

While Boston Hockey Now has not confirmed that Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is targeting such a player on the NHL trade market, there has been growing chatter that rugged Minnesota Wild winger, enforcer, and three-time Stanley Cup champion Pat Maroon could become available via a trade. With players like Maroon available, the NHL betting odds of the Bruins trying to replace Lucic are increasing by the game.

“I’m starting to hear his name out there,” an NHL executive source told BHN on Tuesday morning. “He doesn’t fit in with [John] Hynes’ up-tempo style and hasn’t brought everything they wanted when they traded for him.”

After spending the last four seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning and winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Bolts in 2019-20 and 2020-21, Maroon was traded to the Wild last July in exchange for a seventh round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to his stint in Tampa Bay, Maroon, who was originally drafted (2007, 6th round, 161st overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers, also played for the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils and the St. Louis Blues. Maroon was part of the St. Louis Blues team that beat the Boston Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

The 6-foot-3, 234-pound winger is coming off back-to-back seasons in which he accumulated over 100 minutes in penalties with 134 two seasons ago and 150 last season. Maroon, 35, also fought 10 times in the 2021-22 season and 12 times last season, but has been in just one fight in 22 games for the Wild this season.

According to the source above, Pat Maroon, who is in the final season of a two-year, $2 million contract, would likely cost no more than the 2024 seventh-round pick he cost the Wild to acquire. If that’s the case and you’re an NHL betting man, you should look into the odds of Maroon being traded.