SAN JOSE — Patrick Marleau made no bones about it: After he finishes this year with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he would like to play another season and return to the Sharks — for a third time — in the fall.
“Yeah, I think the door’s open maybe to come back,” Marleau said Saturday before the Sharks hosted the Penguins. “I definitely would like to play another season, so that would be good.”
With another healthy season, Marleau would become the NHL’s all-time leader in games played, passing record holder Gordie Howe, who played in 1,767 games.
Marleau has said that winning the Stanley Cup is his biggest priority, a major reason why he was excited to join the Penguins. But if he is in position to set the all-time games played record next season, his former teammates would like to see it happen with the Sharks. Marleau is playing in his 1,718th career NHL game Saturday night.
“I would love to have Patty back. Unfortunately, it’s not my call,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said Saturday morning. “I realize this is a business and (general manager) Doug (Wilson) is going to do whatever he can to make our team successful next season.
“If Patty’s here, then we’ll be happy to have him. If not and he’s playing somewhere else, we’ll be pulling for him until we play him.”
Marleau, who has 20 points in 60 games this season, was traded by the Sharks to the Penguins on Monday for a conditional 2021 third round draft pick. Wilson said after the trade that he and Marleau stayed in communication throughout the trade process.
“Obviously things didn’t go as planned here in San Jose of getting into the playoffs,” said Marleau, wearing a Penguins hoodie just a few feet away from the visitors dressing room inside of SAP Center. “So this opportunity presented itself and it’s not like I’ve got another 10 years to go. So, great opportunity to come here, get into the playoffs and have another shot of winning.”
Wilson gave Marleau the opportunity to approve the deal, which came together Feb. 23, the day before the NHL trade deadline. Marleau slept on it before agreeing to the trade Monday morning.
“It’s difficult, especially when family and kids are involved. You have to weight those options as well,” Marleau said. “But my family’s very supportive. They mean the world to me, but they wanted me to have a shot.”
A deal to the Penguins made sense on a number of fronts for Marleau.
A bit of our conversation with Patrick Marleau pic.twitter.com/kR6QyPtyZX
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) March 1, 2020
Despite being on a five-game losing streak coming into Saturday, the Penguins remained in third place in the Metropolitan Division with a 37-20-6 record. They feature two of the game’s biggest stars in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017 and have made the playoffs each of the last 13 seasons.
Marleau also grew up a Penguins fan when the team was winning Stanley Cups with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. He was drafted in 1997 at the old Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, and earned his 1,000th career NHL points at what is now PPG Paints Arena.
“You look at the roster and it’s kind of a no-brainer to see the names that they have on it and obviously the past success they’ve had as well,” Marleau said. “They know how to win and it’s good to be a part of it.”
Marleau had a feeling the Sharks’ game Feb. 17 against the Florida Panthers might be his last in San Jose as a member of the team, at least this season. After the game, a 5-3 Sharks loss, Marleau and his family stuck around and posed for a picture near the ice surface.
“I knew it could be,” his last home game with the Sharks this season, Marleau said. “But you never know how things are going to play out, so you just kind of take it in stride. I was hoping things were different and San Jose was in the playoff picture. But, like I said, this opportunity presented itself.”
Marleau had played two other games as a visitor at SAP Center, both with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first came Oct. 30, 2017 and the second was Nov. 15, 2018.
Day games are the best. The boys love watching Dad play at a ‘family game’, which is what we call them at our house. Leaving the rink when the sun is still out is
pic.twitter.com/MSbhunUJr5
— Christina Marleau (@c_marleau) February 18, 2020
“This game keeps throwing curve balls at you,” Marleau said. “Having done it in the past, hoping that will help with the nerves tonight.”
Throughout the offseason, after was traded from Toronto to Carolina, and had the last year of his contract bought out by the Hurricanes, Marleau always wanted to come back to the Sharks. He remained a free agent throughout September before he signed with the Sharks on Oct. 9 after the team got off to an 0-4-0 start.
Marleau gave the Sharks an immediate boost, as he scored two goals in their 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 10. The Sharks went 3-1-1 over their next five games to mostly erase their atrocious start.
“We were waiting for it,” Couture said of a Marleau return. “A few of us expected it to happen a little sooner than it did. I think we were all happy that Doug went and did it and brought him back. He brought energy to our team.”
With a 15-12-1 record, the Sharks, though, went 2-9-2 in December and haven’t been in a playoff position since, leading to the deals the Sharks made before Monday’s trade deadline.
With an eye on next season, defenseman Brenden Dillon was dealt to the Washington Capitals on Feb. 17 and forward Barclay Goodrow was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It was just a really rocky time at the start there,” Marleau said. “Then we ran into some injury trouble, a coaching change. There were a lot of variables that went into play where we just didn’t hit our stride.”
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