Patrick Marleau was born on September 15th, 1979 in Saskatchewan, Canada. He is the youngest kid in his family with an older brother and an older sister. This is how he came to be who he is today.

Junior Career

Marleau played two years in the WHL for the Seattle Thunderbirds. His rookie season was the 1995-96 season in which he made a name for himself. As a 15-year-old, Marleau managed to put up 32 goals and 42 assists in 72 games. He led his team in points and helped propel them into the playoffs. In the playoffs, they played the defending Memorial Cup champions in the Kamloops Blazers. This team had a lot of firepower in players like Jerome Iginla. The Thunderbirds lost 4-1 but managed to take three of the losses to overtime.

The next year, Marleau was named the captain of the Thunderbirds at the age of 16. Despite being so young, he still tore up the league as he scored 51 goals and finished with 125 points, leading the WHL in both categories. He helped take the Thunderbirds to their first-ever Western Conference Final win but couldn’t win the championship as they lost to the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Even after such a dominant season, at such a young age, he lost the MVP race to Peter Schaefer of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Image by Dinur Blum (@rabbi_d) via Flickr

San Jose (1997-2017)

After his second season, Marleau was drafted 2nd overall by the San Jose Sharks. He would later play with the 1st overall pick, Joe Thornton, in San Jose as well. He was the youngest player in the 1997 draft class and was conceptually the youngest player to play in the NHL as he was born on the last day before the draft cut off and made his NHL debut immediately. After Owen Nolan retired after the 2002-03 season the Sharks employed a rotating captaincy. Midway through the season, they awarded him the captaincy full time. That season he scored 28-29-57, tying his previous season stats in two fewer games.

Marleau didn’t play during the 2004-05 lockout season, but he came back in the 2005-06 season with a vengeance. He finished with 34 goals and 86 points, solidifying him as a point per game player. During the rest of his first stint with the Sharks, he broke many of Nolan’s records and proved he was a dominant player. He finished with many feats like 500 goals with his original team, which only 17 players have done. He also played in his 1,400th game on March 19th, 2016 becoming the youngest player to ever do so, and one of 36 to ever do it. Marleau then made the decision to leave San Jose, where he held almost every offensive record.

Image by Dinur Blum (@rabbi_d) via Flickr

Toronto (2017-2019)

Marleau left San Jose in 2017 to join the Toronto Maple Leafs. After fielding offers from many teams he decided that heading back to Canada on a three year, $6.25 million contract would be best for him. In Toronto, he played all 164 games, scored 43 goals, and put up 41 assists. He was then traded to the Carolina Hurricanes so the Leafs could clear cap space and sign Mitch Marner. The Hurricanes bought him out and it looked like his career was over.

Marleau’s Homecoming (2019-Now)

After the Sharks abysmal start to the 2019 season, they decided to bring back Marleau on a one year $700K contract. The Sharks were 0-4 and needed a veteran presence to help lead the Sharks young stars and help be a locker room influencer. They got so much more. In his first game back, he scored two goals and helped propel the Sharks to their first win of the season against the Chicago Blackhawks. In the six games he’s played this season, he’s scored two goals and tallied three assists too. He’s proved to help the Sharks a lot as they are 4-1-1 since they’ve signed him. He looks to still contribute to a team and to keep breaking records. He is a great player and a future Hall of Famer.

Image by Dinur Blum (@rabbi_d) via Flickr

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Matt Jones is a San Jose Sharks contributor for Overtime Heroics.

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