I like Peeke, loved the trade, believe he fits the system, and feel very confident in the right-side of the D moving forward. All 3 guys in their prime. I thought they missed him when he was unavailable at times in the playoffs. He brings more of what the Bruins need on the back-end.
The way the right side is slotted is pretty much set in stone. So the 3 guys on the right-side will need to get used to playing with a multitude of partners on the left-side. That's where you'll see the coaches use flexibility. I do expect another NHL caliber left-shot D-man will be brought in. Not a game-changer, but another experienced guy.
Kevin Bieksa, who seems like one of the most respected analysts going today, said the other night their are really only two types of NHL D now, offensive D and two-way D. There really is no more pure defensive D in the vein of the past.
Peeke is going to be used with a variety of partners, an offensive D like a Lohrei, or a two-way D like a Lindholm or Wotherspoon or whoever they bring in to add to the left side. They won't have the luxury of saying "well I can't pair Peeke with this guy or that guy" just because that potential partner may be a guy with a similar skill-set. I see no issue with Peeke playing on a 3rd pair with a "left-shot Peeke" on the other side, two guys whose strength is defending but not break-outs/transition. To be honest, I welcome having two big, sturdy D-men on the 3rd pair in a zone-style defensive system. Seemed to work for Vegas. Tampa's 5th/6th/7th guys were larger, sturdier (albeit different utilization). Beef on the bottom of the D-corps seems to be a consistent trait of recent champions. Peeke fits this trend. I'm glad he's here.