San Jose Sharks: Why not bring back Patrick Marleau for one more season?

The San Jose Sharks are reportedly not interested in re-signing Bay Area legend Patrick Marleau. But why not bring him back for one more season?

The San Jose Sharks didn’t really make any major additions this offseason. The focus was more on retaining the current core than adding to the existing roster. But rumors have swirled around Sharks legend Patrick Marleau and a possible return to San Jose.

However, if recent rumors are to be believed, Sharks fans shouldn’t be holding their breath.

Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun reported on Saturday that Marleau had expressed a desire to return to San Jose but the Sharks haven’t exactly reciprocated. Instead, the Arizona Coyotes have reportedly reached out to Marleau in an attempt to bring him to the desert.

But Simmons also reports that Marleau has little interest in doing so, instead focusing on a return to the Bay Area.

Marleau is, of course, a legend in San Jose. The 39-year-old is the franchise leader in games played, goals, and total points and could very well be the first Sharks player to have his jersey retired.

Unfortunately, it’s very clear that Marleau isn’t the same player that he once was.

The 21-year NHL veteran scored a career-low 16 goals last season and mustered up just 37 points despite averaging over 16 minutes of ice time per game. Simply put, he’s a below-average player at this point in his career.

But that doesn’t necessarily preclude the Sharks from bringing him back.

The overwhelming rationale against re-signing Marleau has been the Sharks desire to develop their young talent. That said, the two don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive.

San Jose could still look to develop some of their young talents such as Dylan Gambrell, Antti Suomela, Alexander True, Sasha Chmelevski and Ivan Chekhovich. And at the same time, they could still utilize Marleau on the fourth line.

And that’s just it. Marleau wouldn’t be asked to play top-six forward minutes. And he likely wouldn’t even be asked to play on the third line. But pairing him on the fourth line with someone like Melker Karlsson and a younger player could be beneficial.

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The team could even look to trade Karlsson away as Marleau is arguably an improvement over him even at this stage of his career.

If Marleau really wants to return to San Jose that bad — and it sure seems that he does — then there still should be a spot for him. Not on the power play, not on the first or second line. But on the fourth line playing minimal minutes.

And if he’s perfectly okay with that, then sure, there’s no reason why the Sharks shouldn’t bring him back.

We could assume that there are probably eight forwards guaranteed roster spots at this moment. Those players are Logan Couture, Timo Meier, Evander Kane, Kevin Labanc, Tomas Hertl, Marcus Sorensen, Melker Karlsson, and Joe Thornton — assuming he’s brought back.

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That would leave four open spots to be filled by the aforementioned young players with Marleau potentially occupying one of them as well. If anything, even if Marleau is a healthy scratch most nights, at least the Sharks would have a proven commodity as insurance in case of an injury.

Yes, you need to develop your young talent. And yes, to do so you need to play your young talent. But signing Marleau wouldn’t necessarily prohibit the Sharks from doing so.

And if that’s the case, then why not take a nostalgic stroll down memory lane for a season?

Bring Marleau back to San Jose and let the Bay Area legend finish his career in teal.