Bleedin' Blue
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St. Louis Blues: 5 Biggest Turkeys Of 2018-19 So Far

By Todd Panula

ST. LOUIS, MO - JANUARY 4: St. Louis Blues goalie Carter Hutton (40), right, is congratulated by St. Louis Blues' Joel Edmundson, center, and Colton Parayko, left, on the win during at the conclusion of the third period of an NHL hockey game between the St. Louis Blues and the Vegas Golden Knights. The St. Louis Blues defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on January 4, 2017, at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO. (Photo by Tim Spyers/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - JANUARY 4: St. Louis Blues goalie Carter Hutton (40), right, is congratulated by St. Louis Blues' Joel Edmundson, center, and Colton Parayko, left, on the win during at the conclusion of the third period of an NHL hockey game between the St. Louis Blues and the Vegas Golden Knights. The St. Louis Blues defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on January 4, 2017, at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO. (Photo by Tim Spyers/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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St. Louis Blues
ST. LOUIS, MO – NOVEMBER 6: Pat Maroon #7 of the St. Louis Blues and Dougie Hamilton #19 of the Carolina Hurricanes collide at Enterprise Center on November 6, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images) /

4. Pat Maroon

Ok, heart warming story about a man reunited with his son aside, this has not been a fairy tale for either Pat Maroon or the Blues in 2018-19. Maroon has not been quite as bad as anyone online would have you believe. He has also not really done much of anything, though.

Perhaps we all thought wrongly about what Maroon was going to provide. If so, that is on the fans and the media.

He has never been a prolific goal scorer, even playing with the top lines in Anaheim and Edmonton on several occasions. His highest goal total was 27 in his first full season with the Oilers and playing with some incredibly talented players. Other than that, it’s regularly been around 12-14 goals per year, sometimes up and sometimes down.

Even the point totals have not been sky high elsewhere too. His career high is 43, but it’s usually closer to 30 points per year.

So, with this in mind, why is Maroon still a slight disappointment? It is mostly because of how he has played.

Maroon came in and you could see the immediate energy. He was trucking guys over, bullying his way around, battling in corners and causing tons of issues for opposing goaltenders by being in front of the net.

Slowly, as the Blues deteriorated themselves, that style of play vanished. Maroon was not as quick to battle or get to the front of the net – in fact, he was not as quick in general. After reading an ESPN piece about a lack of work ethic almost costing him his NHL career, you began to wonder if that had returned.

Maroon was quickly slid from the first to the third to the fourth line. Then, he was out of the lineup completely, which was reported to not sit well with him. Then, he got injured after one game back.

We can only hope that a new coach and a new outlook will return Maroon to those early games from this season. You’d love for him to have a goal or two by now, but seven points in 14 games is not bad overall. He just needs to keep providing those other intangibles if he won’t score as often as some would like.

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