Marleau still marvelous, but will he be back?
SAN JOSE — For an elephant in the room, Patrick Marleau sure skates deftly on the ice.
The other night, Marleau was honored by the Sharks for his recent 500th career goal. In the 100-year history of the National Hockey League, only 45 men have reached that plateau. Even fewer have done it with just one franchise. So, yes, that’s impressive.
Marleau also had that remarkable four-goals-in-one period performance last month in Colorado. He just played his 600th consecutive game. He’s on pace for a 28-goal season, which would be the second best of his career.
The kicker: All of this is happening in the final season of Marleau’s current contract. He will become an unrestricted free agent after the Sharks’ final game this spring — which means there is no guarantee that he will conclude his career with the only team for which he’s worn a NHL uniform.
In fact, one noteworthy subplot to this Sharks’ season is the continuing impact being
made by Marleau and teammate Joe Thornton, both 37 years old and both in the last seasons of their current deals. Will they renew? Will the Sharks make it worthwhile for them to renew?
That’s the elephant-in-the-room (or elephant-on-the-rink) part of the equation. Sharks coach Pete DeBoer used that exact phrase Thursday when asked whether the topic of Marleau’s and Thornton’s long-term futures ever comes up in the dressing room or during team meetings or between the main courses and desserts of charter flight meals.
It does not, according to DeBoer.
“We’re trying to stay in the moment,” DeBoer said Thursday. “And the team is playing pretty well.”
Quite well. The Sharks are on top of the Pacific Division standings. They are putting themselves in position to do something skeptics said they couldn’t do at the start of this season — make a repeat run to the Stanley Cup Final.
We have all seen other teams in other sports grow distracted or discombobulated when their big stars are in such an uncertain situation. (The best example being the NBA’s LeBron James during 2009-10 with Cleveland before his infamous “The Decision.”) By contrast, Marleau and Thornton have made their status a nonissue by either deflecting any questions about next season or not commenting at all on the topic.
But who are we kidding? That elephant is there, even if it is a quiet and circumspect Canadian hockey elephant.
Thornton makes $6.75 million this season. Marleau makes $6.67 million. Last summer, common wisdom was that Sharks general manager Doug Wilson could only afford to extend one of the two men beyond 2016-17 — and that the most likely extendee would be Thornton because of his better 2015-16 performance. Marleau’s resurgence this season alongside Thornton’s ongoing steadiness has changed that perception. Wilson must seriously contemplate a way to retain both players, or perhaps even make Marleau the greater priority.
Thornton’s camp, at least, has sent vague signals that Jumbo would like to stay with the Sharks and what he’s looking for in a deal. According to ESPN reporter Pierre LeBrun, Thornton will seek a threeyear contract at undetermined salary. Marleau’s camp has floated no such public trial balloons and remains silent.
As you’d expect, Wilson will speak to none of this.
“We’re going to concentrate on this season,” Wilson said. “That’s what they want and out of respect for them, that’s what we are doing. Any negotiations or conversations about any of that will be in complete confidence. I will say that both of them should truly be celebrated. To play at this level, for this long, shows their love of the game. And there’s a lot of hockey left in them.”
But what does “a lot” mean? More seasons than you might think. Wednesday, the Sharks lost a wild 6-5 overtime game to the Florida Panthers — featuring 45-year-old Jaromir Jagr, who was a rookie in 1990-91, one full season before the Sharks franchise played its first game. Marleau’s legs appear capable of holding up that long if the other parts of his body also cooperate. Thornton has played a more physical game over the years but also is in good shape.
So. Right about here, you’re probably asking why Wilson does not press for Marleau and Thornton to extend their contracts before this season ends. The Sharks have done that in previous seasons to prevent the two players from hitting the free agent market.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Next season, the NHL is adding a new team, the Vegas Golden Knights. That franchise will participate in an expansion draft. It will happen in June, a few days before the annual entry draft. Each existing NHL team can protect either seven or eight forwards from being selected by the Golden Knights. However, pending unrestricted free agents will not be eligible for the expansion draft.
In other words, it behooves Wilson and the Sharks not to sign Marleau and Thornton until after the expansion draft. That way, the two players would not count toward the seven or eight forwards on the Sharks’ protected list (the exact number depends on choices the Sharks make at other positions.)
Wilson won’t talk about that strategy, either.
“My position is that I have no comment on that,” he said. “People can anticipate and speculate about what our approach might be.”
Signing both Marleau and Thornton to three-year extensions, even if they are in excellent physical shape, would still be a large leap of faith — unless they both agree to take salary cuts that would make deals workable. Regardless, it’s likely that the Sharks would prefer one-year or two-year deals. But would a lesser term increase their salary demands?
Also, would Marleau and Thornton even ask for the same terms or would one of them be open to a more generous so-called “hometown discount?” Both men and their families enjoy living here year-round. Marleau’s wife is a South Bay native. As a NHL player, Marleau has never known anything but San Jose. Uprooting his wife and children at this point to finish a career in another city or time zone can’t be an easy scenario to contemplate.
Things could get very complicated in June. But it’s definitely not affecting what we see inside the boards. It helps that DeBoer has been through this sort of thing before. When he coached the New Jersey Devils of 2011-12, star forward Zach Parise was in the final season of his contract before leaving as a free agent for Minnesota. Parise scored 31 goals and New Jersey reached the Stanley Cup Final. DeBoer has dealt with other players in the same situation, as well.
“I don’t think it was ever an issue while it was happening,” DeBoer said. “I think it motivated them.”
Does he think that’s also the case with Marleau?
“I don’t ask why,” DeBoer said. “But he’s having a great year.”
For an elephant, he’s having an amazing year.