How About a Pat Maroon Signing to Keep The Momentum Going?

Blackhawks fans wanted to see a splurge during free agency. Ask and ye shall receive. Kyle Davidson added veteran forward Pat Maroon to the mix, signing him to a one-year deal worth $1.3M. So along with Tyler Bertuzzi, Alec Martinez, Teuvo Teravainnen and several others, it’s going to be a heck of a lot different next year on this roster.

Maroon has a wealth of postseason experience, winning three Stanley Cups in a row from 2019-2021 with the St. Louis Blues and then two consecutive with Tampa Bay. It’s another valuable voice in a dressing room that is growing a young core but it also adds the man known as Big Rig to not allow some of those up and coming kids to be pushed around anymore.

Davidson has been put the league on notice that some of those taking a run at Connor Bedard will get some heavy pushback.

Richardson on Pat Maroon: ‘It’s Hard to Find Those Guys’

Maroon isn’t signed to score buckets worth of goals as Bertuzzi and Teravainen were, but it’s the pedigree and the toughness he’ll bring to the lineup–along with some good hands near the net.

“I know talking with Jon Cooper in the past he was disappointed to lose him,” head coach Luke Richardson told the media following the signing. “He’s had him all the way back to junior days. He’s really liked by his teammates in the dressing room, he’s obviously a big guy–he’s big, tough, and has good hands around the net. It’s hard to find those guys.”

Richardson also said he tends to “settle things down” which can help a young team after a tough goal against. The Blackhawks struggled last season to stem the bleeding when giving up a goal–often several more would follow in bunches. Now, adding another pro’s pro in Maroon, the Blackhawks are looking to take that next step in teaching the young group how to fight back but also revel in the challenge.

But there’s also the snarl that Maroon brings–along with the reputation of being what Richardson called an “old school” hockey player.

“Sometimes the guys who don’t have to get into fights or physical altercations because of their reputation is even more valuable because it just settles everything down,” Richardson said. “You can send him on the ice at any time when things are getting a little bit out of control like that New Jersey game last year and he’s the type of guy who can maybe change the curve of that game.”

So Maroon won’t likely add to the scoresheet like Bertuzzi or Teravainen will. But having the little less pretty, even more gritty veteran will help keep goals on that scoresheet by having those goal scorers still on the ice.

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