Working the phones until the final horn, and shopping in a thinner market after a flurry of trades on both Wednesday and Thursday, Don Sweeney and the Bruins put an emphasis on size and snarl with a pair of trades on Friday.

Up front, the Bruins decided to bring a longtime villain to town with the addition of Patrick Maroon from Minnesota in exchange for Providence forward Luke Toporowski and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2026.

Known to Bruins fans from his 2019 Stanley Cup Final head-to-head with the Bruins as a member of the Blues and then a four-year run with the Bolts, Maroon comes to the Bruins with four goals and 16 points in 49 games for Minnesota. In addition to his offensive production, the 6-foot-3, 234-pound wing totaled 71 hits for the Wild, and dropped the gloves seven times this year.

Maroon is also arriving to the Bruins at less than 100 percent, as he underwent back surgery last month, and has another two to three weeks to go in his recovery before he would be ready to officially join the Black and Gold’s lineup.

With that injury uncertainty, that conditional sixth-round pick will only transfer to Minnesota from Boston should Maroon appear in at least one game for the Bruins during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

On the backend, the Bruins made a move for the present and the future with the addition of right-shot defenseman Andrew Peeke from Columbus in exchange for defenseman Jakub Zboril and a 2027 third-round pick. It’s also worth noting that the Jackets did not retain any of the $2.75 million cap hit that Peeke possesses from now through the end of the 2025-26 season.

Among group of 325 players to play at least 3,000 minutes over last three seasons, Peeke ranks sixth in blocks per 60 (6.03) and 35th in hits per 60 (6.43). Has another two years at $2.75M AAV after this.

— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) March 8, 2024

The 6-foot-3 Peeke has had a difficult time earning regular minutes with the Blue Jackets (one of the worst teams in hockey) this season, and that alone is cause for concern when it comes to his move to the B’s. But there’s clearly some extra digging on the part of the B’s here, and with a clear belief that they can fix whatever has prevented him from living up to his true potential with Columbus.

“We feel really good that [Peeke] brings a different element in all and Kevin's played really well and that if he's gonna go into that spot, Brandon, whoever it's going to be; Charlie's missed games this year. Brandon's missed games this year. I think we feel comfortable and now we can go up and play and elevate,” Sweeney said of the addition. “Confidence is probably the right word systems structure is going to be the next thing that we're going to really hammer down in terms of getting him up to full speed in terms of how we play and the structure that we want to play with and we feel comfortable that we'll be able to do that and he'll buy into what needs to be the player. It's incumbent upon us and our staff to make sure that we've made the right decision and the players fully bought in.”

The addition of Peeke comes with the belief that Derek Forbort, who played through two significant injuries (both of which will likely require surgery), is done for the season. Forbort and his $3 million salary has been moved to the long-term injured reserve, allowing the B’s to fit Peeke’s $2.75 million cap hit in without an additional move off the B’s NHL roster.

Sticking with the backend, the Bruins also hammered out a one-year, $800,000 extension with defenseman Parker Wotherspoon.

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