A difficult season for Andrew Peeke will end with a new chapter.
The Blue Jackets traded Peeke, 25, to the Boston Bruins in exchange for defenseman Jakub Zboril and a third-round pick (2027) less than an hour before the NHL's trade deadline at 3 p.m. Friday.
Peeke was selected by the Blue Jackets in the second round (34thoverall) of the 2016 NHL draft. He played 218 NHL games over parts of five seasons with Columbus after leaving the University of Notre Dame to sign an entry-level contract in December 2019.
Peeke played 17:59 in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena. He logged only 22 games this season after playing 80 and 82 games the past two years with the Blue Jackets.
"I have a lot of great memories here," Peeke said after practicing with the Blue Jackets on Friday. "You always remember where you start. It was my fifth year here. There's just a lot of great memories and friendships. There's a lot of words you could use."
Zboril, 27, was selected 13thoverall by the Bruins in the 2015 draft.
He has an expiring contract at the end of this season, while Peeke has two years left on his with a $2.75 million/year charge against the salary cap. The Blue Jackets will not retain any of Peeke's salary, and could let Zboril walk as a free agent in July.
Zboril has been assigned to the Cleveland Monsters, where he will add bulk and depth to their blue line for the AHL's Calder Cup playoffs. The Monsters are currently leading the AHL's North Division. Zboril was one of three straight picks Boston made in the first round of that draft. Forward Jake DeBrusk is the only one who's still with the Bruins.
Peeke, meanwhile, gets a new opportunity on a team that's heading for another playoff appearance.
"I just want to play hockey," Peeke said. "Playing 162 games the past two years, you get used to playing every night, and when it doesn't happen all you want to do is just play. It makes you crave it more. At the end of the day, you just want to play hockey. Right now, with how long of a year it's been, I just want to play hockey."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets send Peeke to Bruins
