St. Louis Blues Sign Patrick Maroon, Officially…Finally

The St. Louis Blues finally got their man after days of a will he/won’t he situation. Patrick Maroon is coming home to play in front of his family.

The St. Louis Blues have been involved in the worst kept secret in the NHL for what feels like ages. It might have only been a few days, but the Patrick Maroon situation felt like it took forever.

There were rumors of the Blues interest even before free agency opened up on July 1. Then, more substantiated reports started trickling out around July 6.

Guys like Jeremy Rutherford and Lou Kourac said deals were likely in place back on July 8. Still, Maroon’s family members and agent said to pump the breaks and nothing was final.

Maybe it was posturing, maybe it was getting all the ducks in a row. Who knows.

What we do know is the deal is now official. According to multiple sources, including the team itself, Maroon has signed a one-year deal worth almost $2 million.

It’s a good deal for all involved, but an interesting one as well.

For the Blues, you get a solid player coming off his best season ever. You also get protection by only signing a one-year contract, just in case he has any recurring problems from a minor back surgery performed right after the 2017-18 season.

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For Maroon it is smart as well. He gets to spend at least a year with his family and play in front of his son, who lives in St. Louis. He also gets to prove he deserves a bigger contract, which apparently was not on the table from other teams despite his agent saying there were multiple suitors.

The drawbacks of the deal are salary cap issues and a suddenly clogged roster.

We went into the 2018 offseason figuring at least two of the prospects were locks to make the team, if not more. Suddenly, there might not be room for even one of them, unless the team makes a salary dump trade.

You need role guys that are not afraid to get their nose dirty in front of the net. However, it just makes you wonder how good a camp someone like Robert Thomas or Jordan Kyrou has to have to make the team.

Also, it puts the Blues dangerously close to the cap. The Blues have roughly $3.2-3.3 million in space. They have to sign restricted free agents Joel Edmundson and Jordan Schmaltz as well.

Theoretically, you could let Schmaltz walk, but even if you squeezed Edmundson in there, it creates cap problems for minor injuries that do not require IR visits. Again, it seems like one or more players has to go, but time will tell.

Overall, this is still a good signing. The Blues get some net-front presence they have not had in years. They get a physical presence that is not so lacking in speed that he will drag his linemates down.

You also get a player that grew up watching the Blues and has big incentive to play well here. Not everyone does well playing in their hometown, but it is not as though there are the pressures of Toronto or New York. Outside of the toxic social media circles, St. Louis is an extremely forgiving town.

Also coming into play is the January timeline. It was originally reported that the two sides could discuss an extension in January. You almost never hear that kind of report, which leads one to believe the Blues are setting a mid-season timetable to figure out their cap if they cannot before then.

Next: Pros/Cons Of Trading Alexander Steen

In the interim, welcome home to Pat. I was fortunate enough to cover him during his days in the NAHL with the St. Louis Bandits. It will be fun seeing him wearing the Blue Note now.