When the St. Louis Blues signed forward Patrick Maroon before the start of the season, Blues fans had very mixed opinions. Many fans were excited to see the Oakville, Missouri native play for his hometown team while others were not impressed with his previous play. However, the Blues only signed him to a one-year contract worth $1.75 million, not so much was lost. Maroon seemed to be the icing on top of the cake for the Blues other offseason signings including forwards Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, and Tyler Bozak. However, halfway through the season, Maroon has been extremely disappointing with the struggling Blues.
Should the St. Louis Blues Trade Patrick Maroon?
Barring a miracle, the Blues are not going to make the playoffs for the second straight year. This is even more disappointing after acquiring the forwards over the offseason that were supposed to be the missing pieces.
The Blues have several players who will be free agents in the offseason. Unless Blues management thinks they can make a playoff push, they should think about trying to get something for Patrick Maroon while they still can. This has to be better than letting them walk away over the offseason without getting even a bag of pucks in return. There is no guarantee that Maroon or the Blues will be interested in reuniting with each other. In fact, it is hard to see why either party would be interested considering how Maroon has played so far this season.
Patrick Maroon’s Season
This season, Maroon has been a healthy scratch four times already; twice in November and twice in January. It is easy to see why when one looks at his mere three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 34 games this season. He has mostly been playing on the third line, averaging 13:58 of ice time per game. For $1.75 million, Maroon should get around 30 points and be a plus player. He is not even close to being on pace for these expected stats this season. He is not producing enough to be worth the amount of money the Blues are paying him.
However, Maroon has 34 penalty minutes and 62 hits this season. Being 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighing 225 pounds, Maroon is a player that is an asset to a team looking to increase their physical presence on the ice. He is also not afraid to get into a fight, which many fans love, often changes the momentum and sometimes the outcome of the entire game. He has gotten into two fights this season and one in the preseason. While his production has been down, he still has trade value in the NHL.
Patrick Maroon’s Career
In 2013-14, Maroon’s first almost full season with the Anaheim Ducks, he had 29 points in 62 games. When Maroon got traded to the Edmonton Oilers, he had 14 points in 16 games. The next season, 2016-17, Maroon had 42 points in 81 games. Last season, when he got traded to the New Jersey Devils, Maroon had 13 points in 17 games. In his career, he has not taken very long to get acquainted with his team before he starts producing. That should not be used as an excuse this year with the Blues.
Maroon’s most productive season came last year. He had 17 goals and 26 assists for 43 points in 74 games with the Oilers and the Devils. This is an average of about .58 points per game. He had his highest number of penalty minutes in 2013-14 with 101 in 62 games with the Ducks. He had his highest number of hits in 2016-17 with 189 in 81 games with the Oilers.
If Maroon was on pace for any of these numbers this season, the Blues should be trying to negotiate an extension instead. However, not making the playoffs is unacceptable for the Blues this trip around the calendar with how good they looked on paper at the beginning of the season. The Blues need to try to obtain players that will make the Blues better consistently in the future and Maroon just is not that guy. He has been that guy in the past with other teams.
Maroon might be worth taking a chance on, but ultimately the Blues do not have much room to take chances.
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