Switching teams is nothing new for Pat Maroon.
The 35-year-old winger is on his sixth stop in the NHL, his 729 games divvied up among Anaheim, Edmonton, New Jersey, St. Louis and Tampa Bay.
But this is the first time Maroon has been on the move as a three-time Stanley Cup champion, a track record that makes the Wild’s lone offseason addition to their lineup an intriguing X-factor on the ice and in their locker room.
“I’ve liked it so far,” Maroon said. “It seems like this is a team that can do something special.”
For weeks, Maroon has been getting to know his new teammates.
They’ve gone out to eat together, played golf and attended an Old Dominion concert before training camp began. Maroon has also paired up with Marcus Foligno in fantasy football, the two’s squad rebounding from a poor start.
“We won the last game,” Maroon said. “We’re OK. We’re still intact.”
As for the on-ice transition since the Wild acquired him and prospect Maxim Cajkovic in July from the Lightning for a 2024 seventh-round draft pick, that process checked an important box on Thursday when Maroon finally played with linemates Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime against Chicago, the first preseason game in which the Wild tabbed all their regulars.
“We can be very dangerous and very effective, be a nagging line against opponents, and that’s what you need,” said Maroon, who had five goals last season and 11 in 2021-22. “You need guys to bring energy to the team, and I feel like we can bring energy to the team. But we can also hurt you on the scoreboard, and I like that.”
What works should be very familiar to Maroon.
He’s competed in four of the last five Stanley Cup Finals, winning in 2019 with the Blues before joining the Lightning and going back-to-back in 2020 and 2021 to become the first player in the NHL expansion era to capture the Cup in three consecutive seasons with different teams.
Not only did Maroon appear in every playoff game during those three runs, but he’s rarely missed any action at all in recent years — sitting out just four times over the last three seasons.
“Probably not,” Maroon said when asked if he expected to be treated differently because of his unique résumé, but he’s available for a conversation and tries to be someone teammates can talk to and lean on.
Reading the room is also key to him; that’s how he decides what the team needs.
“What I like about him [is] when it’s time to be funny and loose, he’ll do that,” Foligno said. “But there’s times he’ll tell you to smarten up, and he’ll take it serious. He’s good at that stuff and recognizes the moment.”
As helpful as that leadership can be to the Wild, the insight Maroon can share about what it takes to become a champion might be even more valuable.
“It’s a game of inches when it comes down to April, May and June,” Maroon said. “Are you going to make the smart play or are you going to try to risk a play? Are you going to defend? Are you going to get the puck out? It’s things like that that you learn.”
Just because he has a trio of titles doesn’t mean he’s reached his Cup quota; Maroon’s intention is to vie for another.
“Our end goal this year is to hoist the Stanley Cup, and that should be your goal the whole time this year and we have an opportunity here,” Maroon said. “We have a good group of guys, and it’s a core group that’s been here for a long time, so they know each other. But it’s about getting over the hump now.”