The 22-year-old Connolly has skated in 134 career NHL games for Tampa Bay and registered 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points, with 72 penalty minutes. In 50 games this season, Connolly has 12 goals, 3 assists, and 38 penalty minutes.

The Bruins acquired forward Brett Connolly from the Tampa Bay Lightning early Monday in exchange for second-round draft picks in 2015 and 2016.

Brett Connolly didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome when he crossed paths with Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid a few years ago.

“He’s just starting to come into his own a little bit and he’s kind of a straight-line player, but he makes plays and he can really shoot the puck,” Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said on the team’s website. “He’s a player that we have kind of looked at for a while.”


Chiarelli said the Bruins “jumped on” the chance to gain one of the Lightning’s many right wings, and said he sees a lot of potential in Connolly.

“He’s a guy we think that can come in and help us, and right away, and still could have a long future with us,” he said.

During the 2012-13 AHL season Connolly tallied 31 goals and 32 assists for 63 points while playing for the Syracuse Crunch. The 31 goals were tied for third-most in the league, while the 63 points ranked ninth.

Connolly was drafted sixth overall in 2010, but has not lived up to his billing.

The NHL trade deadline is 3 p.m. Monday.

“There’s been a lot of deals in the last few days, so I don’t know how many deals there will be. That makes it a little harder,” said Chiarelli, who will address the media later Monday afternoon.

“We got a couple other things that we’re working on that probably won’t happen until the end of the day, but there’s always surprises that come down the pipelines, so we’ll see.”