The San Jose Sharks have agreed with forward Patrick Marleau on the terms of a one-season contract on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old veteran will receive a salary of $ 700,000. This is a return for Marleau with the Californian team, he who has worn the colors of the Sharks from 1997 to 2017. The second choice in total of the auction of 1997 had been the captain of the team from 2003 to 2009.
It's a turnaround in San Jose when General Manager Doug Wilson said his team would not offer a contract to Marleau in September. The statement followed images of the striker training with his former teammates at the Sharks' facilities this summer. The 0-3 record of the "Sharks" at the beginning of the season may have contributed to this flip-flop.
Marleau has played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the last two seasons of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was later traded to the Carolina Hurricanes last June. They then decided to buy the last year of his deal worth an average of $ 6.5 million per campaign and he became a free agent without compensation.
No doubt
In 2018-2019, the 21-year veteran has amassed 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points in 82 games with the Leafs. Even after being released by the "Canes," Marleau still believed he had a place in the NHL.
"I'm definitely not ready for retirement," he told The Athletic at the time. I always think I have good hockey in front of me. I can not give an exact number of years, but it will be more than one. I'm sure."
Thornton filled
In the Sharks' locker room, veteran Joe Thornton will be happy to welcome Marleau, who did not understand why his former teammate was still without a contract.
"He should be playing somewhere," he told The Athletic website, just hours before his organization repatriated him. I expect it to be somewhere soon. He skated with us this summer and he's still one of the best skaters on the ice. "
Thornton and Marleau played together from 2005 to 2017 at the Sharks.
Source link
https://www.tvasports.ca/2019/10/08/patrick-marleau-trouve-preneur
