San Jose Sharks: Patrick Marleau not returning is good news for young prospects

San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson has officially indicated that the team will not bring back Sharks legend Patrick Marleau which is good news for the team’s young prospects.

The San Jose Sharks had a relatively quiet offseason by most standards. Instead of pursuing top-level free agents, the Sharks primary focus was on retaining their own.

And outside of the massive extension given to Erik Karlsson, the Sharks didn’t do too much to rock the NHL world. But they didn’t need to. That wasn’t supposed to be the plan, nor was it executed as such.

General manager Doug Wilson was focused on maintaining the team’s current core as opposed to adding to it via outside sources.

Cap restrictions absolutely played a factor in this, but it was nonetheless the goal and it was completed to perfection — outside of the expected loss of captain Joe Pavelski.

However, one outside name kept finding himself at the forefront of Sharks free agency rumors. And that’s likely because he wasn’t really too much of an outsider, to begin with.

Longtime Sharks legend Patrick Marleau has been heavily tied to San Jose all summer long after his contract was officially bought out by the Carolina Hurricanes — following a trade from Toronto.

The Bay Area legend had made it apparent that he wanted a reunion in San Jose — perhaps for one final season — but the Sharks had approached it apprehensively. Understandably so as Marleau was coming off the worst season perhaps of his career.

Marleau still played in all 82 games last season with the Maple Leafs but recorded just 16 goals and 37 total points — both career-lows since his rookie season way back in 1998.

His ice time dipped but only slightly as Marleau was asked to play a pretty sizable role with Toronto, a role he, unfortunately, was unfit to handle. But with the Sharks, Marleau wouldn’t be playing top-six forward minutes.

He’d likely be relegated to the third or fourth line receiving minimal playing time. It would be a pure nostalgia trip, yes, but one that the Sharks undoubtedly considered.

But ultimately Wilson made the decision to forgo re-signing Marleau stating the following to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic in an interview on Wednesday.

"“We feel that we have one of the strongest groups of young players that we have ever had, knocking on the door, and we have promised them that same opportunity to show they deserve a spot.This takes nothing away from what Patrick accomplished here as a player and as a man. He will always be a San Jose Shark, no matter where he goes. But the team is at a different place right now and is continuing to evolve. We owe it to the players who have put the time in preparing for their opportunity to show what they can do.”"

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Wilson’s statement about the team’s young players is exactly the argument that many Sharks fans have been using to contest Marleau’s return.

The Sharks will be trying to develop many of their young prospects and players such as Dylan Gambrell, Sasha Chmelevski, and Ivan Chekhovich will be looking to crack the roster this season.

Marleau would simply be added competition and could very well take away a roster spot from one of the Sharks prospects. Still, there’s an argument to be made for both sides.

Many still hold a grudge against Marleau for his controversial departure a few years back, but nearly as many would welcome him back with open arms if he were, indeed, to return. If anything, his veteran presence could be invaluable to the development of such young players.

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But on the other end of the spectrum, the Sharks are still expected to bring back Joe Thornton who should fill Marleau’s “veteran leadership” role, perhaps even better than his adversary.

And let’s not forget that it was Marleau’s departure back in 2017 that allowed the Sharks to develop some of their young core at the time. That core has turned into players like Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier, and Kevin Labanc — three cornerstones of the franchise.

Both sides of the argument make sense, but with Marleau now officially out of the picture, look for the Sharks to heavily rely on their young talents.

Perhaps they could find the next Hertl, Meier, or Labanc. There’s only one way to find out.