Sharks’ Thornton, Marleau proving worth
Tuesday marks three years to the day Patrick Marleau and
Joe Thornton signed nearly identical contract extensions to remain with the Sharks.
How quickly those three years have passed, and here we are again wondering what San Jose will do with a pair of aging franchise pillars who seem to have plenty of hockey left in their 37-year-old bodies.
Before we try to figure that out, let’s look at what the two have done since Thornton signed a $6.75 million-per-year deal, and Marleau did likewise to earn a $6.66 million annual salary, on Jan. 24, 2014.
Marleau has appeared in all 241 regular-season games since re-signing and has scored 68 goals along with 80 assists for 148 points. He averaged 0.75 points per game before the deal, and has averaged 0.61 per since.
Thornton has appeared in all but four games since re-signing and has assisted on 156 goals in addition to scoring 43 for 199 points. He’s a plus-33 over that time. Thornton averaged nearly a point per game before the extension (1,167 points in 1,176 career games) and has dipped slightly to a still very respectable 0.84 per since.
Marleau has moved from 74th on the NHL’s all-time goalscoring list to 46th place as he’s just seven shy of 500. And he’ll stand alone at No. 23 for career games played after appearing in his 1,458th contest Saturday to break a tie with Glen Wesley — up a whopping 79 spots from when he sat 102nd at the time of his new deal.
Thornton has shot up from 50th on the all-time points list to 24th with 1,370, and he climbed from 26th in all-time assists to 13th with a total that is 10 away from 1,000.
In terms of ice time, Thornton shows little change despite aging three years and playing under a different coach. Thornton averaged 18:56 per game in 2013-14 under Todd McLellan, and he’s logging 18:37 through 46 games under Peter DeBoer this season. Marleau has dipped a bit, going from 20:31 three years ago to 17:23. The biggest difference is Marleau isn’t employed as much on the penalty kill as under McLellan.
Since the two signed their current deals, the Sharks have gone 132-89-20, earning points in 63 percent of their regularseason games. Marleau and Thornton have played significant roles in all 31 of San Jose’s postseason games since, including last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Marleau’s and Thornton’s value since re-signing can’t be measured in numbers and accomplishments alone regardless how impressive. They don’t tell the whole story.
Thornton remains a strong voice and a respected leader in the locker room. He’s welcoming of new players, whether promoted from the minors or arriving via trade or free agency. Thornton continues to thrive centering one of the team’s top scoring lines, runs one of the league’s most feared power plays and flies under the radar with his defensive tenacity and execution.
Marleau is similar; he just goes about his business in a more quiet manner. A fitness freak and team-first ex-captain like Thornton, Marleau looks as though he could easily skate into his 40s. While displaying a slight drop-off offensively, Marleau displays versatility with the ability to play wing on any of the first three lines, or to step in and play center when injuries or slumps occur.
With all the young talent bubbling up from the system, it’s still hard to picture a Sharks team without Thornton and Marleau part of the group. The team is better today than when both signed extensions, and they’re a part of that winning equation. Tommy come lately: Maybe he’s a late-bloomer, but onetime Sharks backup goalie Thomas
Greiss is turning heads in the NHL. Now starting for the Islanders, the 31-year-old ranks third in the league with a .937 save percentage at even strength. He finished seventh in that category last year. Selected 94th in the 2004 draft by San Jose, Greiss resurrected his NHL career after stops in Sweden and Germany following 44 appearances with the Sharks from 2008-13. Capitalizing again: The Capitals appear to be the NHL’s
next red-hot team, taking over from the Canadiens, Rangers, Wild and Blue Jackets. Washington has scored at least seven goals in consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 11-13, 1993; has outscored its past five opponents 30-13; and is 10-0-1 in its past 11 heading into Saturday’s game at Dallas.
Briefly: Anaheim on Friday traveled without fourth leading scorer Jakob Silfverberg, who suffered a possible head injury Thursday and is expected to miss time. … Auston Matthews has 22 goals for the Maple Leafs, who haven’t had as much goal production from a rookie since Sergei Berezin managed 25 in 1996-97. … The Wild have points in 20 of their past 22 games (18-2-2). … Oilers star Connor McDavid, who has seven three-point games this season, is fourth among active players in the fewest games needed to record 100 career points (92 games). Pittsburgh teammates Sidney
Crosby (80) and Evgeni Malkin (89), and Washington’s
Alex Ovechkin (77) are the ones who got there even more quickly.