The Bruins made the right decision by trading Jakub Zboril

Trade Deadline Day was predictably busy around the NHL, and the Boston Bruins made a pair of moves themselves as they try to bolster the team and make a run at the playoffs.

The first move of the day saw them trade Luke Toporowski and a draft pick to the Minnesota Wild for forward Pat Maroon, who is currently recovering from back surgery but will be a physical force when he takes the ice.

Move number two saw them add a defenseman, trading for right-shot Andrew Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets. This one was a little steeper in price, as they sent a 2027 third-round draft pick and Jakub Zboril to the Blue Jackets while taking on all of Peeke's remaining salary. Peeke is under contract for two more years with a $2.75 million AAV.

With Zboril gone, two of the three consecutive first-round draft picks from the infamous 2015 draft are gone, with Jake DeBrusk the only remaining player. Despite losing a homegrown Bruin in Zboril, the Bruins made the right call in trading him.

Trading Jakub Zboril was the right move for the Bruins

Zboril had requested a fresh start on a different team earlier in the season and was placed on waivers by the Bruins in December while playing for Providence to see if another team would give him a shot. Zboril has mostly served as a depth defenseman in his Bruins tenure and has been passed on the depth chart by guys like Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon.

All season, Zboril has played for Providence after not making the NHL roster out of training camp. He currently has not recorded a goal. while tallying nine assists for the P-Bruins to go with a -5 plus/minus rating and 19 PIM in 31 games.

Zboril was on the NHL roster all year in the Bruins record-setting 2022-23 campaign. He didn't play very often then, serving as the seventh defenseman for the first half of the year and then the eighth defenseman after Dmitry Orlov was brought in before the trade deadline. He had one goal and three assists in 22 games that year.

Zboril also had a bout with the injury bug in a big way during his time with the Bruins. It appeared as if he was gaining hold of an everyday spot in the lineup early on in 2021-2022, but a torn ACL in his 10th game of the season in December ended those ambitions.

The one season that Zboril saw most of his playing time in was the Covid shortened 2021 season, when he was a regular in the lineup most of the year. Ultimately, by the end of the season, he was again muscled out of the lineup and only played in two games after April 20. He finished with nine points that season, all assists.

Zboril still isn't in the NHL at this time, as the Blue Jackets assigned him to their AHL team in Cleveland after the trade became official. He'll be a UFA at the end of the season, and it's easy to root for Zboril to find a consistent opportunity for NHL minutes. It just wasn't going to be in Boston.