Even though the Blues have been big spenders this summer, they are making a push to sign UFA winger Patrick Maroon, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, Maroon’s camp is staying patient and there doesn’t appear to be any particular rush to get a deal done.
The 30-year-old is coming off of a season that saw him record a career-high 43 points between Edmonton and New Jersey. While he has seen an uptick in his offense as of late, he is still a very physical winger as well which makes him one of the few true power forwards available on the open market.
Maroon underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back in May but it’s not expected to cost him any time next season as he is expected to resume skating in advance of training camp.
As is often the case when notable players remain unsigned after the first few days of free agency, one of the questions that Maroon will have to decide on is whether or not he should continue to pursue a long-term deal. While the security would certainly be nice, he may have to take less than his asking price to do so. However, he could look for a one-year pact instead in the hopes that another strong season offensively will only boost his negotiating leverage on the open market next summer.
While the Blues could certainly use Maroon in their middle six group of forwards, given their remaining cap space (roughly $6MM per CapFriendly) and having three regulars still to re-sign including defenseman Joel Edmundson, they would likely have to clear out a contract before they could realistically bring in the St. Louis native. Speculatively, that cut would need to come from the back end with blueliners Jay Bouwmeester and Carl Gunnarsson entering the final year of their deals. However, both players are still recovering from significant injuries (a hip issue for Bouwmeester and knee surgery for Gunnarsson) which could potentially complicate things.
Maroon ranks 12th on our Top 50 free agent list and is the second-highest player still unsigned. It appears that he may be on the open market for a little while yet.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Maroons son lives in STL I believe as well
He wants to play in St. Louis, but if the money (or term) isnt there he’ll go elsewhere. The Blues probably win a lot of “ties” if other offers come. But in reality I don’t think they can give him either term or $$$ others could.
He’d certainly change the complexion of this Blues team however if he signed.