Article: Wild Acquire Pat Maroon For Almost Nothing

[Thomas Williams]

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[Quebec1648]

Mason Shaw has had multiple ACL injuries, so that may be reason the Wild passed on extending him a qualifying offer. 

In regards to Pat Maroon, I think he is being acquired to fill the void left by Reaves departure. Maroon only cost a 7th rounder, so I am OK with this move, even if it ends up being only a 1 year rental.

[Dango]

I was pushing to get this guy back in his Edmonton days .  

[Protec]

Now get Nosek to win draws and add some size down the middle.

[Secord Sucks]

I’d be interested in seeing analytics from last season comparing Reeves and Maroon. Funny that Maroon’s nickname is also “Big Rig.”  Greenway, Stramel, Maroon… I think BG’s favorite movie growing up was Convoy.

[Protec]

Beedie-eyes, full-time playoff-beard, 150 PIMs, Cup-winning pedigree, and glue guy.

I thought Rossi was getting the grit-injections but apparently a replacement big-rig is the plan. 

[Protec]

 

 

9 hours ago, Secord Sucks said:

I think BG’s favorite movie growing up was Convoy.

2025-26, the Wild are gonna be a convoy...😄

[MNCountryLife]

Interesting trade by BG.  I was surprised (but not disappointed) that he didn't make any offers to Reaves and Steel.  I think Shaw will be signed later as a full recovery is a bit more imminent.  Assuming that Duhaime is eventually signed that makes 11.  I kind of thought Beckman and Walker would start in MN this year.  Would like to see Rossi make a good push as well to be on the MN roster.  But with 11 guys signed roster space is limited.  

[Imyourhuckleberry]

6 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Assuming that Duhaime is eventually signed that makes 11.  I kind of thought Beckman and Walker would start in MN this year.  Would like to see Rossi make a good push as well to be on the MN roster.  But with 11 guys signed roster space is limited. 

Rossi, Beckman, Walker fighting it out for a final spot seems reasonable, with Shaw possibly joining late in the year.

Still need to sign Gus. Not much cap space to sign major contributors, but I would not have minded seeing Nyquist back at $3.2 per year. Guerin went in on Johansson early, and hopefully he got that right. Nyquist looked like he had a more complete game, but Johansson definitely showed signs of chemistry with Boldy.

[Up North Guy]

I haven't followed Maroon's career so I have no opinion on that. Perhaps this will allow Moose to stay out of the box more. I can also see maybe the beginnings of a new GREEF line.

[mnfaninnc]

Well, that didn't take long. As for the cap, $800k beats $1.5m(last season's salary for Reaves), freeing up, essentially, a minimum deal(maybe Shaw). 

Perhaps we can play with the name a bit, I'm proposing with 150 PIMs, we should rename him Patrick Magoon.

It is interesting that in this trade, Shooter decides to help the Heartlanders! Who knew they would become a priority? Also, perhaps lost in the transactions, the Wild have resigned Zane McIntyre for Iowa. I was hoping that Jones would be Wallstedt's backup, but McIntyre is back. Perhaps it's good to have a veteran voice in the goalie room?

Mermis also resigned, giving him the vet voice role in the room. I like Mermis, but thought he was pretty limited when with the big club. 

[mnfaninnc]

There are 4 free agents I think we should take a look at:

• Nick Ritchie
• Oskar Sundqvist
• Maxime Comtois
• Caleb Jones

The 3 forwards are in the heavyweight class. I'd think that Sunny probably has the inside edge, and all 3 will need to come to grips with taking haircuts. There's not a lot of money left out there, at some point just being happy with a job will have to come in. Sunny also has that ability to play C, so I'd expect him to be able to win some draws, even though he seemed a little slow as a C. 

I also think Ritchie likes to throw his weight around, and he's got plenty of it. Sunny is a RHS, Ritchie is a LW LHS, and we've got plenty of those.

[MNCountryLife]

3 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I would not have minded seeing Nyquist back at $3.2 per year. 

I was bummed to see Nyquist sign with the preds.  Him and O'Reilly will definitely make that team better next year.

[Protec]

5 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

There are 4 free agents I think we should take a look at:

• Nick Ritchie
• Oskar Sundqvist
• Maxime Comtois
• Caleb Jones

Guys the Wild could afford. Ritchie is pretty natural being sand in the teeth guy. Sundqvuiist wasn't bad here in MN but he wasn't a beast either. I kinda look at these types of guys and ask where they provide an upgrade? I liked Nosek because he wins draws and is a bigger body down the middle with some solid playoff experience to the finals. That's an upgrade over Steel and gives the Wild something they lack at center. Bottom six wingers would have to bring a quality the Wild lack to make sense. Maroon for example has the beard to deflect high-sticks and is a sand in the teeth guy. Minnesota has very little of either. A little grizzle, and fly'n moose but overall team toughness and resilience needs improvement.

2 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

I was bummed to see Nyquist sign with the preds.  Him and O'Reilly will definitely make that team better next year.

I don't disagree with the offense but Gustav doesn't do much for toughness or speed. The Wild will develop a tougher more resilient culture with a young group learning together. I think guys like Beckman and Walker will be pushing hard to make it. With Rossi, those three players all seem like they'll be able to add something from a scoring, playmaking, and energy perspective. I like that potential and that's what the Wild need. Not simply more placeholders or 1M/1year guys. Need contributions, not just guys who go out and try not to give up a goal.

[Protec]

5 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

I haven't followed Maroon's career so I have no opinion on that. Perhaps this will allow Moose to stay out of the box more. I can also see maybe the beginnings of a new GREEF line.

Maroon won Cups back to back with STL and TB. He was with the Ducks early in his career and had playoff experience there. Big power forward guy, not a ton of speed but paid AHL dues and has risen to the top of role guys who are perennial playoff competitors in the NHL. Older player but chips in offense when hockey is the toughest in April-June. Has played with lots of big name guys. Brings more playoff experience and Cup wins to the WIld than anyone except maybe Fleury. Great role player and glue-guy with no long-term risk and good hockey mojo. Not flashy, just strong hockey, determined, scoring a few greasy ones. Not afraid to go to the net or into the corners. Hard guy to play against.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

I like Patrick Maroon as a player and as a fit for the team but I do question why we aren't letting some of our younger guys compete for that spot instead. Certainly, the money made sense with the way Guerin went about it, but it does add another hurdle to get to developing the Walkers and Beckmans in the NHL. Maroon is another one year, vet deal that doesn't further our team in 2-3 years when the window is open. 

Developing our young players should be our top priority this season and next. We are not in competition for the cup, nor will we be with the dead cap hit. Letting only one or two move up every year seems like a shortsighted strategy 

[mnfaninnc]

19 hours ago, Protec said:

Big power forward guy, not a ton of speed but paid AHL dues and has risen to the top of role guys who are perennial playoff competitors in the NHL. Older player but chips in offense when hockey is the toughest in April-June.

Yet, Magoon does have enough speed to catch defenders and hammer them in the corners. He won't have any trouble finding someone, and I think he may be a little less polite when engaging in a confrontation, like, he doesn't ask players if they want to go, he forces them to go.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

I like Patrick Maroon as a player and as a fit for the team but I do question why we aren't letting some of our younger guys compete for that spot instead. Certainly, the money made sense with the way Guerin went about it, but it does add another hurdle to get to developing the Walkers and Beckmans in the NHL. Maroon is another one year, vet deal that doesn't further our team in 2-3 years when the window is open. 

Developing our young players should be our top priority this season and next. We are not in competition for the cup, nor will we be with the dead cap hit. Letting only one or two move up every year seems like a shortsighted strategy 

Here's my explanation: Reaves and now Magoon bring something to the table we did not have in Iowa. They restore some balance to a team that wants the reputation of playing gritty, but, is too puny to do it. Beckman isn't going to add grit, neither is Walker. And, we need 1 more in this weight class each on offense and defense.

Guys like Stramel and Kumpulainen will eventually fill those roles, but they are a long way from being there. Now, with Maroon, I would use him often as the 13th forward, healthy scratching him against teams that are also small, and trying not to play him in a lot of b2b contests. This isn't a slight on Maroon, it is a fact that at 35, with the type of game he plays, he'll need a little more rest than most. 

Also, Duhaime came up as a C and I think he has the speed to do it. If needed, he could center a line with Magoon and another large player if the team needs a wake up call or if we need one of those heavy shifts. It's not always about fighting with these guys, those heavy shifts are part of the game and if the fans need a wakeup call, those heavy shifts can swing momentum. You can't see momentum, but you can certainly see a heavy shift with 4 or 5 bomb hits.

As for Beckman and Walker, they need opportunity too. Neither one requires waivers to head back to Iowa. I could definitely see a timeshare here.

Also, remember last season early on when we played Winnipeg? One of the 'peg players started chasing Rossi around the ice and we had nobody there to restrain him. Shortly afterwards, Reaves was acquired. Rossi will need protection, at the very least, on the bench. This should never happen again. Remember the reverse hit Hartman put on Ehlers? I would imagine that Winnipeg feels about the same way we do when Stanley jumped on Kaprizov. I'm pretty sure both franchises see it that retribution is coming. For instance, Morrissey still hasn't received his!

Edited July 4, 2023 by mnfaninnc

[Protec]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Rossi will need protection, at the very least, on the bench. This should never happen again. Remember the reverse hit Hartman put on Ehlers? I would imagine that Winnipeg feels about the same way we do when Stanley jumped on Kaprizov. I'm pretty sure both franchises see it that retribution is coming. For instance, Morrissey still hasn't received his!

There's a decent rivalry here. There's a good amount of bad blood. MN simply needs to be able to get going when things get tough. If Rossi shrinks when NA big-guys intimidate him, then that makes him ineffective. The Wild can't have that from any player. Otherwise the GM should be looking for guys who CAN make an impact. Personally, I'd love to see Rossi jump Morrisseey and judo-chop him in the throat for old-time's sake. Let em know you're there. That'll "drag some guys into the battle." Dec. 30th and 31st, 2023... 

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Here's my explanation: Reaves and now Magoon bring something to the table we did not have in Iowa. They restore some balance to a team that wants the reputation of playing gritty, but, is too puny to do it. Beckman isn't going to add grit, neither is Walker. And, we need 1 more in this weight class each on offense and defense.

Guys like Stramel and Kumpulainen will eventually fill those roles, but they are a long way from being there. Now, with Maroon, I would use him often as the 13th forward, healthy scratching him against teams that are also small, and trying not to play him in a lot of b2b contests. This isn't a slight on Maroon, it is a fact that at 35, with the type of game he plays, he'll need a little more rest than most. 

Also, Duhaime came up as a C and I think he has the speed to do it. If needed, he could center a line with Magoon and another large player if the team needs a wake up call or if we need one of those heavy shifts. It's not always about fighting with these guys, those heavy shifts are part of the game and if the fans need a wakeup call, those heavy shifts can swing momentum. You can't see momentum, but you can certainly see a heavy shift with 4 or 5 bomb hits.

As for Beckman and Walker, they need opportunity too. Neither one requires waivers to head back to Iowa. I could definitely see a timeshare here.

Also, remember last season early on when we played Winnipeg? One of the 'peg players started chasing Rossi around the ice and we had nobody there to restrain him. Shortly afterwards, Reaves was acquired. Rossi will need protection, at the very least, on the bench. This should never happen again. Remember the reverse hit Hartman put on Ehlers? I would imagine that Winnipeg feels about the same way we do when Stanley jumped on Kaprizov. I'm pretty sure both franchises see it that retribution is coming. For instance, Morrissey still hasn't received his!

I hear where you are coming from. We are a smaller team, especially on the backend. However, I think the Revo experiment last year and the Deslaurier test the year before really has shown that those one dimensional players simply do not have the effect Deano and Guerin seem to think. Decades ago, in the era of Wayne Gretzky you would pair an enforcer with a star to ensure that star's safety. That was a winning formula when we had no NHLPA or the rules we have today. Now I just find enforcers take up space that could be used for a contributing player. 

Some teams, like the blues, still subscribe to the gritty hockey mentality and have success doing so. That isn't true of every cup team. I've attached an article from the athletic that really dives into this aspect of the finals, sorry for the paywall. 

In short, we need to make our team based on the players we have. We need to use the advantages of our best players and build a roster to suit that. The grit first mentality in our team doesn't work because we aren't huge on the back end. Granted, guys like Spurgeon and Brodin were signed long before Billy got here, he still needs to lean into the tools we have, instead of constantly reaching for the next enforcer to keep our "grit" identity. Get faster and leave the heavy hitting behemoths in the dust. Keep a fast paced game instead of our steady grind. We didn't have the scoring to do it before, but we can start now. 

Look at the players we signed long term and build around them. We aren't getting rid of these players because we hand out NMC and NTC like candy. Time to start playing with them in mind instead of bringing in bargin bin enforcers in an attempt to keep an outdated and archaic identity that we aren't built for. 

 

https://theathletic.com/1155709/2019/08/23/when-building-a-stanley-cup-winner-does-size-matter/

Edited July 4, 2023 by TheGoosesAreLooses

[mnfaninnc]

20 hours ago, Protec said:

If Rossi shrinks when NA big-guys intimidate him, then that makes him ineffective. The Wild can't have that from any player. Otherwise the GM should be looking for guys who CAN make an impact.

I believe that without backup, Rossi and Zuccarello would not fight back. Throughout NHL history, smaller players need someone to have their back and Magoon is the guy assigned to them this coming year. I don't think you'll find the smaller players intimidated as long as they know their back is covered. 

I do not consider Kaprizov to be a smaller player. He may not have the height, but he is certainly stocky and tough. I also believe he will and is spending his offseason getting even stronger with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. I expect him to be physically more engaged than he's ever been. I also believe that this type of attitude will be infectious among the smaller kids. I only hope that our strength and conditioning guy can get these guys noticeably stronger!

[Protec]

40 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I do not consider Kaprizov to be a smaller player. He may not have the height, but he is certainly stocky and tough.

Remember when he gave Whitecloud a bloody nose?

The Wild players need to stick up for themselves and each other. You don't want guys on your team who need to have their hand held.

Not everybody is gonna fight, nor is that the best way to use your skill guys but at what expense? If you get bullied and cry about it then you're a loser.

[mnfaninnc]

19 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

In short, we need to make our team based on the players we have. We need to use the advantages of our best players and build a roster to suit that. The grit first mentality in our team doesn't work because we aren't huge on the back end. Granted, guys like Spurgeon and Brodin were signed long before Billy got here, he still needs to lean into the tools we have, instead of constantly reaching for the next enforcer to keep our "grit" identity. Get faster and leave the heavy hitting behemoths in the dust. Keep a fast paced game instead of our steady grind. We didn't have the scoring to do it before, but we can start now. 

One reason why the big behemoths are on short term deals is because we will eventually transition into the faster paced skill guys. We will be taking advantage of what we've got, but it just doesn't get handed to them, they have to earn it. They've got to take a place and make sure they never give it up. 

Last season with Rossi, he earned a spot on the roster. Then during the next 16 games, he did nothing to keep his spot. This year he knows, he's got to take the spot in preseason and then keep the spot in the regular season proving himself to be more valuable than anyone else for that spot. Beckman, Walker, the defenders all have to go through this. It requires filling out the body, and strengthening it. It requires developing a passion where nothing stands in your way. And it also requires every player coming up will need to win puck battles wherever the puck is. 

When Shooter came on, our cupboards weren't as bare as the XGMDR era, but they were pretty empty. Boldy was in college, Kaprizov was in Russia. Shooter's team (and Brackett's) tried to choose the most highly skilled players he could find and restock the cupboards. Delivery dates on those guys were 4-5 years after they were drafted (sometimes we don't understand this length of time very well). Incrementally, Shooter has been stocking the cupboards, much like someone would if they just got a couple of items extra per week at the grocery store. 

OCL has demanded playoff invitations, so while Shooter has been stocking and marinating the cupboards, he has also signed placeholders to try and keep the big team going. With the money he had to work with, he could only sign value guys, guys who yearned for opportunity over high pay. High skilled guys are not the ones who could be signed. 

We're on the back of that trajectory right now. 3 Euro guys are expected to be delivered next season. We've got a few college guys, a potential star goaltender, and several defenders in Iowa getting acclimated. We'll still need to be able to have those heavy shifts, but I think we'll be transitioning into that skilled-drafted team around '24, probably fully by '25. While Kumpulainen may be here after '26, I'm expecting Stramel and Heidt arriving in '25.

[mnfaninnc]

4 minutes ago, Protec said:

The Wild players need to stick up for themselves and each other. You don't want guys on your team who need to have their hand held.

Not everybody is gonna fight, nor is that the best way to use your skill guys but at what expense? If you get bullied and cry about it then you're a loser.

But it's always nice to be able to look at your big brother on the bench to make things right! I think the little skilled guys will be handing out a lot of steak dinners!

Edited July 5, 2023 by mnfaninnc