Marleau expects results
When Patrick Marleau put his Maple Leafs jersey on for the first time last month, he said he smiled from ear to ear. And didn’t stop. “There’s something to be said about growing up in Canada, watching Hockey Night in Canada. The very first time I put the jersey on, I couldn’t get the smile off my face,” said Marleau. “I don’t know why. Just really exciting.” The 37-year-old — he’ll be 38 next week — from Aneroid, Sask., is arguably the biggest unrestricted free-agent signing the Maple Leafs have made in the salarycap era, agreeing to a three-year, $18.75million deal after spending his entire 19-year career as a member of the San Jose Sharks. Marleau arrived in town last week. He, his wife, and four sons have found a house and Marleau dropped the two older boys off at their new school Tuesday, meaning he missed the team’s informal skate.
But he battled construction traffic on Kipling Ave. to get himself familiar with his new surroundings at the MasterCard
“I can’t wait to get out there and meet everybody.” PATRICK MARLEAU
Centre and planned to join the likes of Nazem Kadri, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly and Frederik Andersen on the ice Wednesday as next week’s opening of training camp gets closer.
“I’m just trying to get settled right now,” said Marleau.
“I can’t wait to get out there and meet everybody. Just real excited.”
His new Maple Leafs teammates are keen to have him.
“It’s going to be great,” said Kadri. “Experience is the No. 1 thing we need. It builds confidence in those high, stressful games. Patty is going to bring that to us. He’s going to be a leader.”
Andersen, in particular, got an upclose look at Marleau during SharksDucks games for a few years while the netminder was tending the crease in Anaheim before joining the Leafs.
“He’s a great player. I saw him a lot playing against him,” said Andersen. “We’re fortunate to have a guy like him.”
The speedy former captain of the Sharks did not come to Toronto because the team is rebuilding. Marleau came because he believes the future is now.
“Being in the playoffs last year, you don’t really see (the Leafs) as a rebuilding team,” said Marleau. “They’re a playoff team and a team that’s up-and-coming. It has all those things — the skill, the speed. The structure that’s been implemented the last couple of years is going to go a long way.
“It’s very exciting watching highlights of these guys,” added Marleau. “Everything everybody has been saying about them, you can see it — fast, talented.
“(You see) how good they are, but how much better they can get as well.”
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock was the secret weapon in recruiting Marleau. The two have a history, with Babcock having coached Marleau on various Team Canada incarnations.
“I know he expects a lot out of his players, and pushes them,” Marleau said of Babcock. “I’m looking forward to that challenge.
“The biggest thing with Babs is, he’s able to change on the fly and have confidence in players that they can make adjustments, in-game adjustments. That’s the big key.”
Barring a trade, Marleau’s arrival creates a logjam at forward, though a line of Marleau, Auston Matthews and William Nylander could become one of the most explosive in the NHL.
Marleau’s declining, but still respectable, offensive numbers (27 goals, 19 assists last season) would almost certainly rebound if he played with Matthews (40 goals, 29 assists). Zach Hyman, who got precious little power-play time, managed 10 goals and 18 assists on Matthews’ line last year.
Marleau often takes faceoffs on the left side of the ice, but he mostly plays left wing. The Leafs have four returning left wingers: Hyman, James van Riemsdyk, Leo Komarov and Matt Martin. One left winger could move to the right side, where he’d battle Kasperi Kapanen, Josh Leivo and Nikita Soshnikov for a fourth-line role.
Ben Smith and Eric Fehr are also forwards with NHL contracts the Leafs will need to address.