On the St. Louis Blues and Patrick Maroon …
Lou Korac: (11:05 PM) Have been told that a deal between the Blues and Patrick Maroon has been finalized and that they could announce it today. The deal is believed to be for one-year at $1.7 million. The Blues and Maroon are able to talk about a contract extension on January 1st, 2019, and the sides are expected to talk about a contract extension.
Jeremy Rutherford: (8:25 PM) Ben Hankinson, Maroon’s agent, said that no decision had been made and that the Blues are still a “strong option” but they aren’t the only team still interested in signing Maroon.
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic: Sources were saying yesterday that the Blues and Maroon were close on a contract for the free agent forward.
GM Doug Armstrong met up with Maroon in person as the Blues interest in him has picked up the past few days.
Maroon is from St. Louis and would add the physical side the team is lacking, and there are still some concerns on how Robby Fabbri will bounce back.
The Blues currently have just over $5 million in cap space with RFA defenseman Joel Edmondson’s filing for salary arbitration. Edmonson could get $4 million in arbitration.
On the Detroit Red Wings …
Ansar Khan of MLive: (mailbag) Asked if the Red Wings could move Evgeny Svechnikov and/or Andreas Athanasiou for a defenseman.
Don’t believe that the Red Wings will be looking to trade Svechnikov after only one season in the AHL.
Athanasiou is one of the Red Wings better trade chips and they aren’t just going to trade him to open up a roster spot. If they were to move him, they would want a good, fairly young defenseman.
The Wings currently have lots of forwards, but there is Henrik Zetterberg’s health and the possibility of him not being around next season. Gustav Nyquist and Thomas Vanek may not with the team beyond this season.
There is no way the Red Wings would trade Athanasiou for Tyler Myers unless there is an extension in place for Myers – last year of his deal. The Wings may prefer to not give up an asset and possibly look to sign him a UFA.