Vegas Golden Knights miss a trick by not signing Patrick Maroon

Patrick Maroon was finally taken off the market over the weekend after signing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and it was a missed opportunity for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Maroon, still no doubt celebrating the Stanley Cup he won with hometown team the St. Louis Blues in June, finally secured his future for 2019-20 after agreeing to terms with Tampa Bay on a one-year contract, worth $900,000 on Saturday.

It is a hell of a pickup for the Lightning who have added some much-needed grit and toughness to their lineup, in addition to acquiring a veteran forward who can provide secondary scoring, as backed up by Maroon’s 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 74 regular season games in 2018-19, in addition to three goals and four assists for seven points in 26 postseason contests.

Maroon, 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, is a human battering ram and he can fill a number of roles within the bottom six, while he will add a wealth of experience to a Tampa Bay roster that will be looking to rebound in 2019-20 after suffering a humiliating sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the First Round of the Playoffs last year.

So, where do the Vegas Golden Knights come into this?

Well, basically, this was a huge missed opportunity for the Golden Knights who are lacking both in forward depth and in secondary scoring. After losing Ryan Carpenter and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in free agency, coupled with the trades that sent Erik Haula and Nikita Gusev to the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils respectively, Vegas have lost a lot of key role players.

And what adds further insult to injury is the fact that the Lightning signed Maroon to a one-year, $900,000 contract, which is significantly less than the $1,750,000 cap hit he carried with the Blues in 2018-19.

Yes, the Golden Knights are pressed hard up against the salary cap of $81.5 million for 2019-20, although they currently have $1,025,001 of cap space left. Yes, they still need to re-sign restricted free agent defenseman Jimmy Schuldt to a new deal, although they have the option of either trading or buying out depth blueliner Nick Holden, who doesn’t have a long-term future with the franchise.

The Knights could have afforded to sign Maroon to a similar team-friendly deal for one-year, which would have made a lot of sense given that they, like the Lightning, are bang in the middle of their Stanley Cup window and they should be making aggressive moves in order to maximise their chances of tasting ultimate glory.

Maroon is a Swiss Army Knife type of player who can do most things and do them well. As already mentioned, he can provide secondary scoring and he was productive in 2018-19, tallying 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 74 regular season games for St. Louis, he also can be effective on the power play as illustrated by his 11 points on the man advantage last year and he can kill penalties.

In addition to the above, he’s solid in the faceoff circle with a career win percentage of 36.7, he can come up clutch in key moments as proven throughout the Blues’ stunning Stanley Cup triumph, and he can also hit like an absolute train – the 31-year-old racked up 135 hits for the Blues last year.

Maroon can also be relied upon to log heavy minutes – he averaged 14:10 minutes of ice time per night in the regular season for the Blues in 2018-19 – and he’s known to be a real glue guy in the locker room, which is especially important on a Stanley Cup contender.

The Knights have lost some key depth and experience at the bottom of their lineup, coupled with the fact that Nikita Gusev is projected to tally roughly 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists) in the NHL should he replicate around 80 percent of his production in the KHL.

Sadly, should that happen then it will be to the Devils’ gain rather than Vegas’ and, as a result, a player in the ilk of Maroon would have been a match made in heaven for the Golden Knights and their championship aspirations.

However, Maroon – who has racked up 206 points in 449 career NHL games and 34 points in 73 career playoff games – will now suit up for Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20 and his postseason experience could prove to be the final piece of the puzzle for that franchise as they enter the year looking to end their Stanley Cup drought.

The Lightning’s gain could well prove to be the Vegas Golden Knights’ loss, who are in need of secondary scoring and forward depth.