Marleau could be back next season
San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson strongly hinted Friday that Patrick Marleau could soon rejoin the team for next season as he starts to approach Gordie Howe’s alltime record for games played in the NHL.
Marleau has played 1,723 NHL games over 22 seasons, including 1,551 games over 20 seasons with the Sharks. Marleau, 41, is fifth on the NHL’s all-time games played list, and needs to play 45 more to pass Howe, one of the game’s all-time greats, who had 1,767 games over 26 seasons in the league.
“Players of that nature and the respect for them, where they’re at in their career and what they’ve meant to this franchise, treating them with great respect is something that’s extremely important to us and our organization,” Wilson said. “Hopefully we’ll have some news in that area in the next little while.”
Wilson spoke Friday shortly after the Sharks announced they had re-signed winger Stefan Noesen to a one-year contract, the only deal the team finalized on the first day of free agency.
The Sharks parted ways with goalie Aaron Dell and forward Melker Karlsson, who both became unrestricted free agents.
Dell’s future was decided when the Sharks acquired Devan Dubnyk from the Minnesota Wild and Karlsson’s agent, Claude Lemieux, said the 30-year- old winger would not be re-signing with San Jose. Dell and Karlsson had spent five and six seasons with the Sharks or
ganization, respectively.
“Really appreciate what they did and how they came in and worked for us,” Wilson said of Dell and Karlsson, adding that it’s also time for new players like goalie Alexei Melnichuk, defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk and forward Fredrik Handemark to get their chance.
Otherwise, the Sharks were quiet on the first day UFAs could sign with other teams. Wilson did most of his heavy lifting Monday by trading for Dubnyk and forward Ryan Donato and wasn’t interested in adding an older player on a longterm contract.
The Sharks and every other NHL team are dealing with a salary cap that remained flat this season at $81.5 million and is not expected to rise much after next season thanks to the financial ramifications of the pandemic.
“You’re exploring everything and we’re still having discussions with our own people,” Wilson said, “and trying to find that sweet spot of the right fit.”
Wilson said he doesn’t want to add expensive players with term who could potentially “get in the way of what we think are appropriate opportunities for some of our younger players that had chances to play last year.
“The key is to put them in the right role, and having the blend of a team allows us to do that.”
Marleau, a free agent last summer after the last year of his three-year contract was bought out by the Carolina Hurricanes, was signed by the Sharks to a one-year, $700,000 on Oct. 8, 2019, and had his first practice back with the team the following day.
Marleau went on to post 20 points in 58 games for the Sharks before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 24 for a conditional 2021 third round draft pick, which Wilson used to acquire Donato from the Wild.
Marleau said Feb. 29 when the Penguins played the Sharks at SAP Center that he would like to play another season and return to the Sharks — for a third time.
“Yeah, I think the door’s open maybe to come back,” Marleau said. “I definitely would like to play another season, so that would be good.”
Fellow Sharks icon Joe Thornton has also stated he would like to play next season. Both he and Marleau became unrestricted free agents Friday. Thornton, according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and the Athletic, will be patient before he decides what team he wants to sign with this winter.
As is his custom, Wilson would not comment on any discussions he’s had with either players’ agents.
“The respect that we have for both Patrick and Jumbo for what they’ve done for this franchise is extremely important to all of us,” Wilson said. “What Patty’s accomplished and what Jumbo’s accomplished is pretty special.”
Noesen, 27, had eight points and 32 penalty minutes 34 games with the Sharks, who claimed him off of waivers from the Penguins Dec. 19.
Noesen, listed at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, averaged close to 12 minutes of ice time per game as a depth forward. Under then- interim coach Bob Boughner, Noesen’s responsibilities increased during the season as the Sharks dealt with injuries to a handful of key players.
Boughner was officially hired as the Sharks’ fulltime coach on Sept. 22.
“I loved the fact that they brought back Bob,” Noesen said. “I thought that Bob has a pretty good vision for what he wants out of this team. I thought that there was no better fit.”