San Jose Sharks: Could Patrick Marleau return to the Bay Area?

San Jose Sharks legend Patrick Marleau wants to return to the Bay Area to play next season. So could we see the veteran make his way back to San Jose?

For nearly two decades, Patrick Marleau was the preeminent face behind San Jose Sharks hockey. Even to this day, it’s difficult to imagine one without the other — an ever-lasting bind between two entities that needed each other just as much as the other needed them.

That’s why when he decided to forgo another season in teal to return to his home country of Canada it was a devastating departure for both parties. Marleau made a business decision looking for a shot at a Stanley Cup and he was, at the end of the day, a bit homesick.

But in an interesting twist of fate, that same “homesickness” could ultimately drive him back to the place he has called home for more than half of his life.

Marleau has stated his desires to return home to San Jose for the upcoming 2019-20 season, but unfortunately, the power isn’t completely in his hands. But luckily, a recent roster move could make a possible return more likely.

After spending the last two seasons playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marleau was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in an obvious salary dump this past Saturday. This was a move that had been widely expected as Toronto looked to clear up cap space for future re-signings.

However, Marleau’s wish to be traded back to San Jose just wasn’t fully plausible.

As it stands, the Sharks are in their own cap bind at the moment. After inking star defenseman Erik Karlsson to a massive eight-year, $92 million contract, the Sharks have a little under $15 million in cap space to make multiple key re-signings.

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Captain Joe Pavelski is set to hit unrestricted free agency while longtime Sharks center Joe Thornton will follow a similar path. That’s not even to mention their key restricted free agents in Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc who should be top priorities for San Jose.

All of that meant that the Sharks just couldn’t afford to take on Marleau’s $6.25 million cap hit. Certainly not in this offseason.

But now that he’s with Carolina, things could very well be looking up.

The expectation is that the Hurricanes will indeed opt for a buyout with Marleau’s contract as they would save more money than they would lose from the cap hit. And with key players to re-sign including Justin Faulk, Sebastian Aho, and Petr Mrazek, Carolina will be looking for all the cap space they could get.

If the buyout occurs and Marleau does hit the open market once again, the power will be entirely shifted to his control. That is, assuming the Sharks even want to bring them back.

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Aside from cap issues, there are few reasons that San Jose wouldn’t want to bring Marleau back, even if he had a down year by his standards last season. The 39-year-old veteran remains the franchise’s leader in games played, goals, and total points scored and could still bring a valuable veteran presence to the team.

But there’s very little that San Jose could realistically afford. In actuality, the two sides would likely have to come to an agreement on a deal close to the veteran minimum of $700,000 for a reunion to possibly work.

However, Marleau has made it very clear that he would love to return to San Jose this upcoming season. After selling his house in Toronto, his wife and four kids are reportedly on their way back to California and he, of course, would like to go with them.

A reunion tour could very well happen, even if it’s only for one more season. Seeing Marleau don another jersey these last two seasons has been equal parts strange as it has been upsetting.

But where there’s a will there’s a way and the two sides will likely try and find a way to get him back in teal for what could be the final NHL season of his illustrious career.

After all, Marleau could still have something left in “The Tank.”