The Big Rig knows where his bread is buttered. Pat Maroon signed a two-year extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning that will keep him under contract through the 2023-24 season. The deal comes with an average annual value of just $1M but allows the veteran forward to stay with the organization that he has helped win two Stanley Cups.
Maroon, 33, has actually been part of three consecutive championship-winning teams after lifting the Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 before joining the Lightning. During that memorable run, he had two game-winning goals, including one in overtime of Game 7 against the Dallas Stars. Another game-winner sent the Florida Panthers packing this past year, and Maroon firmly planted himself as a Lightning playoff legend.
There aren’t many players in the league more beloved by teammates than Maroon, even though he likely will never come close to repeating the 27-goal, 42-points campaign he had with the Edmonton Oilers. This year, he has seven goals and 13 points in 45 games while averaging a little over 13 minutes a night, perfectly acceptable from a player earning just $900K. He’ll actually get a raise moving forward, but that $1M cap hit represents very little risk for the Lightning.
The Lightning now have just three pending unrestricted free agents to deal with this summer. Ondrej Palat, who is still a key part of the forward group, Jan Rutta, a depth defenseman who could potentially be replaced internally, and Brian Elliott, a backup netminder who has been called upon just nine times this season. The Lightning are actually in a pretty nice spot with Brent Seabrook’s LTIR hit making next year’s cap number look more inflated than it really is. Maroon can be a useful piece at the bottom of the lineup, and if that changes, his $1M cap hit can be completely buried in the minor leagues.
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