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Patrick Maroon's tenure with the New Jersey Devils is over before it really started.

Maroon made it no secret he enjoyed the stretch run and was open to re-signing. The Devils were interested in getting something done, too. Ultimately, he has decided to head home.

Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic offered some insight​ into how things played out:

Free-agent forward Pat Maroon, a native St. Louisan, is expected to sign a contract with his hometown team, the Blues, a source has told The Athletic.

Terms of the deal aren’t yet known and may not even be finalized yet.

The Blues had put a full-court press on Maroon in recent days, with Armstrong meeting him in person in St. Louis to go over his potential role and current players such as captain Alex Pietrangelo calling to encourage him to join the club.

Maroon registered 44 goals and 85 points in 155 games over the last two seasons, which averages out to be 23 goals and 45 points per 82 games.

The Devils need all the secondary scoring they can get and most certainly could have used that kind of production.

Though Maroon is not the fleetest of foot, he reads plays quickly and that helped him remain productive on a Devils team that likes to play fast.

With Maroon out of the mix, it's pretty clear they need to add another top-6/top-9 forward if they want to avoid running into the same problems – a lack of consistent scoring beyond Taylor Hall – again next season.

Only one 30+ point forward remains in free agency (Rick Nash) and he may not even play in 2018-19.

If the Devils want to add a meaningful piece up front, they're going to have to do so via trade. Luckily, Ray Shero has shown the ability to do just that in the past.

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