Edmonton Oilers: Maroon Eyeing Another High-Scoring Year

The Edmonton Oilers didn’t know what to expect when they acquired Patrick Maroon from the Anaheim Ducks, and they ended up with a huge asset.

Though Peter Chiarelli’s primary goal was to add toughness and size to the forward lines, Maroon has flourished into a high-scoring forward. The 6-foot-3, 227-pound winger is a fixture on the top six and has shown tremendous chemistry with Connor McDavid. He even dropped 20 pounds prior to last year in order to add more speed to his game and keep up with the young first-liners.

Edmonton Oilers

In 81 games last season, Maroon finished with 27 goals and 42 points and was the team’s third-highest goal scorer. And though he had competition from Milan Lucic for the LW spot on the top line, he won the battle, showing more prowess, speed and chemistry.

As he enters this season, he will have to continue to add edge to his game, all while putting up consistent results. Many are curious, however, to see if the top line stays in tact.

Maroon and the First Line

Lucic is still adapting to his role and finished with more points last season, and he may come in and try to earn a promotion to the top line. Though Leon Draisaitl is tremendous on the wing with McDavid, he may be ready to centre his own line this season. With these scenarios, Maroon may find himself fighting to keep his spot on the top line. However, it seems likely that he will keep his place.

First off, Maroon is a big, physical winger who is fast and puts up more goals than Lucic. The 29-year-old also fulfills all the needs that Lucic would, with his hard-hitting physicality and protective instincts towards his teammates. However, he puts up more goals. Additionally, he and McDavid have more chemistry than Lucic, and he benefits more from McDavid’s presence than Draisaitl’s.

The only areas of his game that he must improve on is taking better care of the puck and backchecking more effectively. He could also stand to pass the puck more, and work on getting more pucks on net instead of relying on goals in front.

Still, Maroon is poised to repeat and given his chemistry, skill and speed, he will certainly return to the top line this season.