At the trade deadline, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney made two trades. The most eyebrow-raising one was with the Minnesota Wild filling a need for the Stanley Cup Playoffs that they were missing last season against the Florida Panthers.
Sweeney acquired veteran and Stanley Cup champion Pat Maroon to fill a spot that he signed Milan Lucic for, but his return to Boston was short. Maroon was brought to Boston to give them that physical presence in the lineup that would allow some of the silly stuff to happen. It still happened in the second round against the Panthers when Sam Bennett punched Brad Marchand in the face and knocked him out of two games. That happened one game after Matthew Tkachuk challenged and fought David Pastrnak.
Of course as tough as Bennett and Tkachuk think they are, they're not dropping the gloves with Maroon because they have very little chance of having an advantage. It's not happening. Sunday at breakup day for the Black and Gold Maroon made it clear that he wants to return next season to Boston.
Pat Maroon wants to return to the Bruins in 2024-25
Maroon made it very clear Sunday that he would like the opportunity to return to the Bruins for the 2024-25 season.
Maroon says he wants to be a mentor for the younger players and help push them to where they need to go. He also feels Bruins didn’t get best version of himself after undergoing back surgery and he wants to show them what he can do. https://t.co/eGLvRTo1qy
— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) May 19, 2024
This just makes way too much sense for Sweeney and the Bruins not to make this happen. Really. When he was acquired from Minnesota, he was coming off of back surgery and he didn't even find his way into the lineup until the tail end of the regular season. The former champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning is just what Boston needs in the locker room and on the ice.
Sweeney has a bunch of cap space to work with this summer, but the money could go away quickly with Jeremy Swayman earning his payday getting a huge raise, and other needs they have. Heck, trying to retain Jake DeBrusk should also be a no-brainer, but if there's one thing we know about Sweeney, it will happen on his terms and if the player wants more, he'll likely get it somewhere else.
There are tough decisions ahead for the Boston front office, but a one-year, $1 million deal with some incentives is a no-brainer going into next season.