Andrew Peeke Will Make Bruins Debut In Original Six Matchup

Newly acquired defenseman Andrew Peeke will make his Boston Bruins debut against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery met with reporters on Wednesday following the team's practice at Warrior Ice Arena. He confirmed that Peeke would play in the Original Six matchup and explained what Boston hopes to see from him.

"How much he's going to be able to help us, really," Montgomery said, per team-provided video. "Apply himself. Obviously, he doesn't know our complete structure. We show him video, but he has to go out and apply it."

Montgomery said after having conversations with the new blueliner, the Columbus Blue Jackets had "a lot of similarities" to the way the Bruins played this season.

"Hopefully just to see him play on his toes, bring some physicality to our lineup, some mobility on the back end," Montgomery said.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound defenseman said he's looking forward to putting on the Spoked-B for the first time.

"I'm excited to make my debut for the Bruins, especially playing for an Original Six team," Peeke told reporters, per team-provided video. "Just going to go out there and play my game. ... Excited to be coming here. It's an exciting thing, just being able to put the Bruins jersey on, coming to a new team that's a playoff team and a winning culture, that's exciting."

Montgomery said that Matt Grzelcyk is "under the weather" and would not make the trip with the team to Montreal.

Peeke joined the Bruins late Friday after the NHL trade deadline when Boston sent Jakub Zboril and a third-round pick to Columbus in exchange. Peeke played in 23 games for the Blue Jackets this season, registering 47 blocked shots and 43 hits while averaging over 15 minutes of ice time during those contests. He is signed through the end of the 2025-26 season, with an annual cap hit of $2.75 million.

"We're excited about going to work with him as a bigger body on the right side that I think is hard to find. It’s not a rental," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said after the trade deadline on Friday, as seen on NESN. "We have that player moving forward. He’s young, and we’ll have to make sure we continue to sharpen up his game."

Puck drop from the Bell Centre is slated for 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action on NESN, following an hour of pregame coverage.