Blue Jackets send Peeke to Bruins
The Columbus Blue Jackets traded defenseman Andrew Peeke to the Boston Bruins for blue-liner Jakub Zboril and a 2027 third-round pick, the teams announced Friday.
Peeke fell out of favor with the Blue Jackets organization despite being in the first season of a three-year contract carrying a notable $2.75-million cap hit. He's played just 23 games this season, averaging 15:37 per contest. The 25-year-old played 80-plus games and averaged over 21 minutes in each of the previous two campaigns.
At 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, Peeke brings plenty of size and has posted 180-plus hits in each of the last two seasons. Peeke put up strong defensive metrics in 2021-22 but has declined since. The Parkland, Florida, native also provides virtually no offense.
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
Peeke will likely compete for playing time on Boston's third defense pair.
The Bruins drafted Zboril 13th overall in 2015, but he's been considered a bust, suiting up in just 76 career NHL games.
But for the Blue Jackets, this move is about clearing the logjam on right defense and freeing up cap space, as they're not retaining any money in the deal.