NHL Free Agency 2018: St. Louis Blues sign Patrick Maroon

The St. Louis Blues signed veteran LW Patrick Maroon to a 1 year deal worth $1.75 M on Tuesday in NHL free agency

The St. Louis Blues have been busy in NHL free agency, signing players like Tyler Bozak and David Perron as well as trading for Ryan O’Reilly. On Tuesday, they added a good depth piece to their roster, in left winger Patrick Maroon.

The 2007 161st overall pick has had a fairly impressive career considering his spot in the draft. In 375 career NHL games, Maroon has 78 goals and 100 assists for a total of 178 points. Similarly to Ross Johnston’s signing yesterday, Maroon is known as somewhat of an enforcer, having picked up 451 penalty minutes in his NHL career.

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In signing with the Blues, Maroon will be joining his third team in 2018 alone. He played 57 games with the Edmonton Oilers this season, before being traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward prospect JD Dudek and a 2019 third-round pick. He has also previously played with the Anaheim Ducks.

Maroon put up a fairly impressive 43 points in 73 games this season. If he had played all 82 games of the season, he would have been on pace for 48 points. Unfortunately, he also had 71 penalty minutes.

This signing is also notable because Maroon is set to become the only St. Louis native on the roster of the St. Louis Blues. Playing for your hometown team is always a special treat for NHL players. Just ask John Tavares.

My Thoughts

For me at least, the St. Louis Blues made a good decision in this case. Unless Maroon witnesses a regression, the Blues have just signed a 40-50 point scorer for under $2 million. Even if the signing doesn’t end up panning out, the guy’s only here for one year.

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This signing was a win-win for both the organization and Maroon himself. The Blues made a low-risk decision to sign a pretty decent player, and Patrick will get to play for his native team. The Blues have made a smart, simple and safe move to bolster their depth.