Rumour: Marleau heading back to Canadian team?

Have we forgotten about Patrick Marleau? When the Carolina Hurricanes bought his contract out in June after acquiring him from the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was assumed he’d return to the San Jose Sharks. After all, he spent all but two of his 19 NHL seasons with the Sharks and earlier this year moved his family back to San Jose.

We just assumed it was going to happen… 

However, Sharks GM Doug Wilson shot that possibility down when he confirmed he would not be bringing Marleau back to San Jose, even for just one season. 

So, what’s next for the former captain? According to some reports that were made public last week, it was believed that Marleau could be targeted by another Canadian team. While he won’t be returning to Toronto, it was mentioned that the Edmonton Oilers could have been in the mix. 

However, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman does not want the veteran to get false hopes. In his latest 31 Thoughts column on Sportsnet, Friedman mentioned he doubted Marleau would end up with the Oilers… 

“There were reports last week that Edmonton had interest in Patrick Marleau, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

And we get why… Marleau’s age and declining performance have worked against him. He turns 40 on Sept. 15 and his production dropped from 47 points in 2017-18 to 37 last season.

There was a sense that the Oilers could be looking for a leader to inspire the roster, but it remains to be seen if Marleau is the right answer…