Edmonton Oilers: Patrick Maroon’s Journey

Edmonton Oilers Patrick Maroon is amongst the Oilers’ goal-scoring leaders with 25 tallies on the season. However, he wasn’t always the goal-scoring type.

In fact, “The Big Rig” is the perfect nickname for the 6-foot-3, 236-pound winger. He is a physical forward who uses his size and aggression to his advantage. Not only can he throw hits, but he can fight or the puck, win battles along the boards and stand in the crease.

Edmonton Oilers

Since coming to Edmonton in a 2016 trade from the Anaheim Ducks, Maroon has transformed into a different player. In 89 games with the Oilers, he has 33 goals and 53 points and is a plus-21. He has also taken steps to become more of a threat offensively, and this has helped him develop his game further.

Improvement on the Forecheck

Before coming to the Oilers, Maroon had just four goals in 2015-16 with the Ducks. He wasn’t finding his stride on the bottom-six and was mainly used for bringing toughness and physicality to the ice.

After proving to be an asset when it comes to crashing the net and creating a screen in front, Maroon decided to take that in stride. He finished with eight goals after coming to the Oilers and wanted to continue to improve his offensive numbers. This led him to drop 20 pounds in the offseason so that he could keep up with the play and have more speed down the wing.

It worked. Maroon has displayed excellent speed and more jump in his game as he comes into the offensive zone. This has made him able to fly to the net and make fast plays, while also helping him keep up with the speed it takes to play on the first time. In the end, this has led Maroon to an outstanding 25 goals on the year – a third of the goals contributed by first liners this season.

Overall, Maroon is improving his game one step at a time, and is proving that there is more to the “Big Rig” than size.