Pat Maroon could be in for an awkward reunion in Boston.
The winger was dealt to the Bruins on Friday, ahead of the NHL’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, with forward Luke Toporowski and a conditional sixth-round draft pick going back to Minnesota .
Maroon’s history with Boston has been fraught after he played a key role in the St. Louis Blues’ 2019 Stanley Cup win that included a seven-game finale over the Bruins.
He further bedeviled Boston hockey fans when he signed with the Lightning the following season, helping Tampa Bay best the Bruins in the second round of the 2020 playoffs en route to a second straight Cup win.
He added a third title with the Bolts in 2021.
During the Lightning’s Nov. 29 meeting with the Bruins in Boston, NESN play-by-play man Jack Edwards needled Maroon during the game broadcast, taking a shot at his 6-foot-3, 230-plus pound frame.
“That was Day 1 of training camp,” he said on-air. “I’ve got a feeling he’s had a few more pizzas between then and now. [Intermittent] fasting for Pat Maroon is like four hours without a meal. But hey, three Cups in a row, who can argue with his formula?”
In lieu of hearing Edwards’ apology, Maroon made a $2,000 donation to the Lightning Foundation in Edwards’ name.
In January, Edwards was able to get some face time with Maroon during the Bruins’ trip to Tampa in a tense Lightning locker room scene that included Maroon sarcastically asking if Edwards wanted him to step on a scale, according to The Boston Globe.
“He got his feelings off his chest, and I listened to all of it,” Edwards told The Athletic. “I was not going to walk away. I let him go as long as he could. I wanted him to know I respected him as much as any NHL player for lasting as long as he has. Every single player who has played in the NHL is an unbelievable athlete, and I made that clear.”
Whether there are any further amends that need to be made between the two remains to seen, but they’ll have a few months to figure that out.
The Bruins, currently second in the Eastern Conference with a 37-13-15 mark (89 points), will have to wait for Maroon to heal up from February back surgery to make his debut.
The 35-year-old, who was traded to Minnesota in July, has four goals and 12 assists in 49 games with the Wild this season.