Heading out on a five-game West Coast trip, the Boston Bruins called up forward Fabian Lysell from the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) before they departed Tuesday afternoon. It's not surprising that they would bring an extra forward on the trip and it's a good thing they did.
After the gameday skate on Saturday in San Jose ahead of their game against the Sharks, it was announced that Lysell would be in the lineup on a line with Elias Lindholm and Marat Khusnutdinov. In a meeting with the media, interim coach Joe Sacco announced that bottom-six forward Mark Kastelic was returning to Boston after suffering an upper-body injury.
"Lysell's gonna start out on the Lindholm line,'' Sacco said. "Kasty went back to Boston, he's not gonna be here for the remainder of the trip. He's out with an upper-body injury."
This may not seem like a big loss, but Kastelic brings energy to the bottom of the lineup and signed an extension earlier this year. He'll join defenseman Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm out with injuries. It's just another obstacle in what feels like has been a season for them from the beginning.
Former Bruins forward Pat Maroon will retire at the end of the season
When the Bruins acquired Pat Maroon from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline last March, they added a veteran who was brought in for toughness in the lineup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was injured when the Black and Gold acquired him and he only played in two regular-season games before playing in all 13 postseason games, picking up two assists.
When it came to free agency, the Bruins chose not to re-sign him and he signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, one of a handful of veterans they brought in. He has played in 59 games this season with four goals and 12 assists. Ahead of Chicago's game on Saturday afternoon against the St. Louis Blues, the former Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that he was retiring following the season next month.
Pat Maroon says he’ll be retiring from the NHL following this season pic.twitter.com/nIUUe87OFd
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 22, 2025
Maroon made the announcement in his hometown during the pregame skate. The sixth-round pick of the 2007 Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers played in career game No. 840 against the Blues. It was a short stint in Boston, but he quickly won over Bruins fans following the trade.