The Wild didn’t add the veteran forward they coveted on Saturday, day one of NHL free agency, but they did acquire that player in a trade before the weekend was out.
Three-time Stanley Cup winner Pat Maroon joined the Wild Sunday along with Tampa Bay minor league player Max Cajkovic in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round pick.
With the Lightning retaining 20% of Maroon’s contract, which expires after next season, the Wild are the catch at just $800,000, which is exactly how much the team had to shell out after a quiet start, according to general manager Bill Guerin . The team signed centers Vinni Lettieri and Jake Lucchini to two-way contracts on Saturday.
The remainder of the Wild’s salary cap is reserved for their restricted free agents, with goalie Filip Gustavsson, forward Brandon Duhaime and defender Calen Addison requiring new contracts.
Maroon enjoyed a five-goal, nine-assist season at Tampa Bay, during which he conceded a league-best 150 penalty minutes in 80 games.
The St. Louis native, who is 6’1″ and 250 pounds, left winger, has played in the NHL for 12 seasons. His career included spells for Anaheim, Edmonton, New Jersey and St. Louis before winning two win-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021. Maroon was also with the Blues in 2019 when they won the cup won. He became the first player in the NHL’s expansion era to win the Stanley Cup in three consecutive seasons with different teams.
Overall, the 35-year-old has 117 goals and 171 assists for 288 points in 729 career games after being drafted in the sixth round (No. 161) by Philadelphia in 2007. In 150 playoff appearances, Maroon’s recorded 23 goals and 28 assists.
The 22-year-old Cajkovic has played in the ECHL and American Hockey League for the past two seasons, totaling 21 goals and 24 assists.
Slovakia’s Cajkovic was drafted in the third round by Tampa Bay in 2019.
Not only does Maroon bring the experience the Wild have been looking for to complement their forward line, but he also possesses an energy factor – traits that make up for the loss of Ryan Reaves, the stalwart fourth-liner with whom he formed a free agent -Contract signed by Toronto after one season with the Wild.