The Z Era ends.
The Bruins have completed their second trade of Deadline Day, acquiring defenseman Andrew Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Jakub Zboril.
#CBJ get Jakub Zaboril from Boston in the trade that sends Andre Peeke to the Bruins. Zabroil, the 13th overall pick in 2015, has spent all of this season with AHL Providence after playing sparingly with Bruins over the last four seasons.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) March 8, 2024
So…who is Andrew Peeke?
He is a 25-year-old, right-shot defenseman who was drafted 34th overall by Columbus in 2016.
He has spent his entire NHL career with Columbus, skating in 218 games over the past five seasons.
This year hasn’t been his best, however, as he has frequently been a healthy scratch, skating in just 23 games.
The Athletic recently listed Peeke as one of its trade targets to avoid, stating:
It’s never a good sign when one of the absolute worst defensive teams in the league does not have room for you in their top six. Peeke has spent a lot of nights as a healthy scratch and has seen his role significantly diminish from last season. He’s only played in 21 games and those games have not been pretty. He has just 35 percent of the expected goals with a relative expected goal rate of minus-1.21, the worst mark in the league. On a bad team in the easiest role possible, that’s difficult to do. If Peeke hasn’t been good enough for the Blue Jackets of all teams, how likely is it that he can be good enough for an actual contender?
The Bruins, it seems, will be hoping that their structure and team defense can help Peeke get back to being a productive defensive defenseman.
Some additional charts/takes/context:
Andrew Peeke, acquired by BOS, is a physical defence-only depth right defenceman. Carved out a role for himself in Columbus despite doing very little with the puck, but lost his spot in the lineup and was a frequent healthy scratch. Bruins think they can sort that out. #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/RgiGOQqMf1
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 8, 2024
Zboril for Peeke. I imagine there has to be some salary retention here. Peeke is $2.75M for two more years after this. Not a great contract. https://t.co/erm1X6yj7P
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) March 8, 2024
Don I’m gonna be real here I think you should step away from the stove pic.twitter.com/lvUM00IgwR
— Sky on Air! (@SkyonAir_) March 8, 2024
Scott’s point is a good one, as there’s really no desire to make room for a contract like Peeke’s after this year.
However, reports indicate that the Bruins will be absorbing Peeke’s full salary, which is…a choice.
The #CBJ are not retaining any salary on Andrew Peeke in the deal with the #bruins.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 8, 2024
It seems like Peeke’s arrival should mean that the end is in sight for Derek Forbort’s Bruins tenure, but who knows.
For Zboril, it’s an end to a disappointing Bruins tenure. He showed flashes of promise over the course of his young career, but a mixture of inconsistency and injuries really stunted his development.
I thought he could be a serviceable third-pair guy somewhere — let’s see if that’s in Columbus.
We’ll add more details as they become available.
Your thoughts?