Pat Maroon Notes Recovery ‘End Goal’ With Bruins Debut Nearing

Pat Maroon was happy to be on the ice Monday for the first time with his Boston Bruins teammates.

Maroon, who skated on his own last week, has continued to recover from back surgery in February. Since the Bruins acquired Maroon in a trade before the NHL deadline, he's worked with the training staff and put a rehab plan in place.

Skating with the Black and Gold at Warrior Ice Arena meant he accomplished the next box on the checklist.

"It felt good. I've kind of been lonely by myself, skating by myself," Maroon told reporters at Warrior Ice Arena, per the Bruins. "Feels good to be back with the guys, get in some battle drills and try to get back up to speed with those guys. Certainly excited to feel a part of it. Excited to be back. I feel like I'm close. You know it's a good sign when you're practicing with the team."

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said Maroon now is considered week-to-week. As Maroon continues to progress, that will become day-to-day.

Montgomery highlighted April 13 against the Pittsburgh Penguins as a best-case scenario for Maroon's return. The Bruins currently have seven regular-season games left, and their contest in Pittsburgh marks their third-to-last game.

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Maroon said he would like to get a few regular-season games in before the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"I would like to play a couple games, for sure. I think that's the end goal is to play a couple games before the playoffs," Maroon said. "They've been really good with me. I can't thank the staff here enough, they've been really patient with me and doing all the right things to make sure I'm 100% and I'm back to where I finished off. They've been really good, so they have a plan for me so we're going to keep sticking with that and progress each day."

Maroon said one of the biggest things for him is getting his conditioning back. And while he doesn't have a specific target date, he hopes the next two weeks of practice will go a long way in helping him feel he's back where he needs to be.

The Bruins will take on the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night and Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Boston then will return home with games Saturday and Tuesday, meaning more practice time with his teammates next week.

"Trust me, I'm really excited," Maroon said. "I can't wait. Especially watching the Florida and Tampa game, makes you just want to go out there and battle for the boys and go out there. I'm really looking forward to it.

"I think I mentioned it before, but just putting on that practice jersey, Original Six team. This is a team a lot of people want to play for and I'm just excited to get with the guys, get in the lineup with them, go to battle with them."