Player Preview: Patrick Maroon

Mar 28, 2014; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers defensemen Jeff Petry (2) and Anaheim Ducks forward Patrick Maroon (62) battle while goaltender Ben Scrivens (30) makes a save during the first period at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

After multiple seasons of putting up tremendous numbers down in the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, Patrick Maroon got his chance to assert himself on the NHL roster during the lockout season. In 13 games with the Ducks, he did not blow up the stat sheet, posting a moderate three points. However, he led AHL Norfolk in scoring with 50 points that year, and the Ducks saw enough in him to hand him a two year, $1.15 million extension.

Expectations were not really too high for Maroon this year, as this past season was his first as a mainstay in the NHL. But with injuries to players such as Matt Beleskey and Jakob Silfverberg, the Ducks slowly began to give more ice time to Maroon. As his ice time increased and he began to play more at the NHL level, Maroon began to improve and show exactly what he could bring to the team. Maroon was made a healthy scratch in 20 of the first 50 games of the regular season, but he skated in the last 32 contests of the regular season and every game of the postseason, showing how he had earned the trust of the coaching staff that he could be a productive regular.

This past season, his first as a regular in the NHL, Maroon set career highs across the stat sheet in games played, goals, assists, points, +/-, and penalty minutes. He also proved to be a versatile piece in Bruce Boudreau’s line juggling experiments, seeing a lot of fourth line minutes, but also playing for stretches on the top-six and even occasionally with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. His steady improvement also saw him eventually get meaningful minutes on the power play.

Maroon also had a very strong postseason, posting seven points in 13 games, which tied him with Andrew Cogliano for fourth on the team. He had a six game point streak and had four power play points, which put him in a tie for second with Perry, Teemu Selanne, and Mathieu Perreault. Also, Maroon ended the postseason with 38 penalty minutes, which was the second most by any player in the postseason (Dwight King had 39 in 26 games). The overall improvement was enough for Maroon to sign another contract extension in the offseason, paying him $6 million over three years and locking him up until after the 2017-2018 season.

Though Maroon just got a nice extension that ties him to the club for a few more seasons, he can still work on improving aspects of his game. Maroon showed flashes last season of becoming a very solid player for the Ducks and a mainstay on the top six, an area the team needs to fill out. The next few pages will detail what Maroon already does well and what he can do to help the team become even better than it was last year.