One of the NHL’s elder statesmen heading into the 2018/19 campaign is certainly winger Patrick Marleau as the 39 year old will be skating in his 21st season this year. The native of Swift Current, Saskatchewan was originally drafted second overall by the San Jose Sharks in 1997 and made his NHL debut a few months later as an 18-year-old. Marleau stayed with the Sharks for 19 seasons before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in the summer of 2017.
He proved to be an efficient scorer on the west coast with 508 goals and 574 assists with the Sharks for 1,072 points in 1,493 regular-season games and added 68 goals and 52 assists in 177 playoff contests. He signed a three-year, $18.75 million contract in Toronto and chipped in with 47 points in 82 games last year with 27 goals and 20 assists playing mainly on a line with centre Nazem Kadri and rookie right-winger Mitch Marner. He also netted four goals and an assist in seven postseason outings. Marleau has now scored at least 20 goals in 15 of his 20 seasons and has scored 30 or more on seven occasions with 44 being his peak.
As well as his scoring prowess, Marleau is well known for his leadership, fitness, and skating ability. This allows him to keep up with the young stars in Toronto and also offer them some much-needed advice during the season. It appears Marleau will be faced with another new challenge this year as he’ll likely start the season on a line with 21-year-old centre Auston Matthews and veteran right-winger Tyler Ennis, who was signed this summer. Ennis will be filling in for unrestricted free agent William Nylander who still hasn’t come to terms with the Leafs on a new contract yet.
Matthews and Marleau enjoy an excellent off-ice relationship and the Leafs are hoping they can also turn it into a productive on-ice partnership. Like every NHL player, Marleau’s goal is to win a Stanley Cup before retiring and realizes time is running out at his age. He reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2015/16 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the Sharks came away empty handed. He now has two years left on his contract in Toronto to get his name engraved on Lord Stanley’s trophy. The Leafs have suddenly become one of the betting favourites to win the cup this year following the addition of all-star centre John Tavares.
Marleau realizes the odds don’t mean a thing though if the team doesn’t put in the hard work needed to succeed. He’s optimistic about the Leafs’ chances, but hopes the squad doesn’t get carried away with all the hype surrounding the them. As for personal achievements, Marleau enters the season with 535 goals and 594 assists for 1,129 points in 1,575 games and 125 points in 184 playoff games. He needs another 65 goals to reach 600 and is just six assists short of 600. He’s climbing the games-played ladder with each outing and is currently 11th on the all-time list at 1,575 and is seventh all-time in game-winning goals with 103.
There’s a good chance Marleau will keep adding to those numbers until he’s in his forties due to his skating ability and conditioning. It’s quite possible that he signs another contract in Toronto after his current deal runs out or he tries his luck elsewhere. He’s played in 706 straight regular season games since being sidelined in April of 2009 and he’s hoping to play at least another 164 consecutive contests in Toronto before considering his next move.