Rumor: Dispute with management may prevent Marleau signing with Sharks

The day that the Carolina Hurricanes bought out veteran forward Patrick Marleau, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Marleau would sign a sweetheart deal with his former team, the San Jose Sharks. But we’re now six weeks past Marleau’s buyout and it’s radio silence between him and the Sharks.

Well… there may be a reason for that.

Sharks insider Kevin Kurz touched on the Marleau situation in his latest article for The Athletic and shed light on some of the reasons why Marleau may not be long for his former team.

In particular, check out these quotes from Kurz:

It’s pretty clear that there is no handshake-type agreement here between Marleau and the Sharks like there is with Thornton. And, really, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Wilson doesn’t owe Marleau anything after he requested a trade early in the 2015-16 season, departed as a free agent two years ago, and then stepped in and helped recruit John Tavares to Toronto after the Sharks were one of the final two or three teams bidding for the top-line center’s services.

To be honest… I had COMPLETELY forgotten about the trade request in 2015-16. Once the Sharks went to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, all seemed to be forgiven right? Apparently not so…

In any case, it seems like it’s San Jose or bust for the 39 year old Marleau and the longer the summer drags on, it’s looking more and more like he’s headed for retirement.