page_title: Patrick Marleau
section_title: San Jose Sharks (1997–2017)
hierarchical_section_title: Patrick Marleau / Playing career / San Jose Sharks (1997–2017)
caption_attribution_description: English: Patrick Marleau
context_page_description: Patrick Denis Marleau is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. Marleau is the all-time leader in goals, even strength goals, power play goals, points, shots, and games played for the San Jose Sharks, having spent nearly his entire NHL career with the Sharks since being drafted second overall by the franchise in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He played his 1,700th NHL game on January 11, 2020, against the Dallas Stars. He is one of only five NHL players to play in 1,700 games, one of just five to play 1,400 with one team, and the youngest to reach both the 1,300- and 1,400-game marks. Marleau was seven games short of becoming the youngest player to play in 1,500 games with one team before signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2017. After two seasons with Toronto, he returned to San Jose in 2019.
  Marleau won gold medals with Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. Marleau, one of the most important players of the Sharks for nearly 20 seasons, was known as one of the fastest skaters in the NHL and exhibits a high standard of playing ability combined with gentlemanly conduct.
context_section_description: Following his second year of major junior, Marleau was drafted second overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, behind future Sharks teammate Joe Thornton, who was selected by the Boston Bruins. Although he struggled early in his career, Marleau learned to combine his excellent offensive talents with defensive prowess from former Sharks head coach Darryl Sutter.
  Marleau was the youngest player in the 1997 draft class, and he debuted immediately at the start of the 1997–98 season. This conceptually makes him the youngest player to ever play in the NHL (in the modern draft era it would be impossible to debut at an earlier age than Marleau, as he was born on the last day of the draft cut-off, and debuted immediately in the first game of the next season).
  With the departure of five-year captain Owen Nolan following the 2002–03 season, the Sharks employed a rotating captaincy for the first half of the 2003–04 season, seeing Mike Ricci, Vincent Damphousse and Alyn McCauley wear the "C" before the captaincy was permanently awarded to Marleau midway through the season. The new captain went on to match his previous personal high of 57 points from 2002 to 2003.
  During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Marleau was inactive during the season but returned in 2005–06, having just signed a new three-year, US$12.5 million contract in August 2005, with a breakout season, becoming a point-per-game player with career-highs of 34 goals, 52 assists and 86 points in 82 games. New rule changes implemented by the NHL at the start of the first season back from the lockout that emphasized speed may have contributed to Marleau's successful campaign. In a game against the Colorado Avalanche on March 19, 2006, Marleau scored two goals to acquire his 400th career point, edging him closer to Owen Nolan's franchise mark of 451 points. Near the halfway point of the season, the Sharks acquired superstar Joe Thornton from the Boston Bruins. Thornton was also the only player picked ahead of Marleau in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. The Sharks were quickly considered a contender once acquiring "Jumbo Joe", but were upset by the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers in the second round. At the end of the season, Marleau was voted one of three finalists for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL's most gentlemanly player, but lost out to Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings.
  In 2006–07, Marleau passed Owen Nolan's franchise marks for goals, assists and points all within a few weeks. On January 4, 2007, he passed Nolan's 451-point mark with a goal and three assists in a win against the Detroit Red Wings. He then scored his 207th goal a week later on January 11 in a win against the Los Angeles Kings. Marleau continued at a point-per-game pace on the season with 78 points in 77 games, ranking second on the team in each category. In January 2007, Marleau played in his second NHL All-Star Game, scoring a goal. However, with high expectations for the playoffs, the Sharks were eliminated by Detroit in the second round in six games. In the off-season, Marleau signed a two-year, $12.6 million contract extension in August 2007 to keep him with the Sharks until the end of the 2009–10 season.
  The following season, Marleau reached the 500-point mark for his career against the Phoenix Coyotes on November 14, 2007. However, his production for the season dipped to just 48 points, his lowest total since the 2001–02 season. In the 2002 playoffs, Marleau became the first NHL player since Brett Hull in 2002 to score shorthanded goals on consecutive days in the playoffs when he scored back-to-back shorthanded markers in Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Semi-final against the Dallas Stars. Despite his efforts, which included eight points in 13 games total for the playoffs, the Sharks were eliminated in the second round for the third consecutive year.
  In the midst of a rejuvenated year for Marleau, overcoming his previous season's dismal offensive output, he was selected to the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, replacing the injured Pavel Datsyuk.
  In the summer of
caption: Marleau during the 2008–09 season.
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