The San Jose Sharks captain from 2003-09, Marleau is at or near the top of most offensive categories in their record book.
Selected by San Jose with the No. 2 pick of the 1997 NHL Draft, Marleau was the youngest player in that class at 17 years, nine months and six days; his birthday, Sept. 15, was the cutoff for draft eligibility. Entering the draft off a 51-goal season for Seattle of the Western Hockey League, Marleau jumped right into San Jose's lineup at 18 without having played a minor-league game.
The San Jose Sharks captain from 2003-09, Marleau is at or near the top of most offensive categories in their record book.
Selected by San Jose with the No. 2 pick of the 1997 NHL Draft, Marleau was the youngest player in that class at 17 years, nine months and six days; his birthday, Sept. 15, was the cutoff for draft eligibility. Entering the draft off a 51-goal season for Seattle of the Western Hockey League, Marleau jumped right into San Jose's lineup at 18 without having played a minor-league game.
Marleau tied for fifth among NHL rookies with 13 goals in 1997-98 and finished sixth in voting for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top rookie. He was a 14-time 20-goal scorer with San Jose, including an NHL career high 44 in 2009-10.
He played his 1,400th NHL game March 19, 2016, against the New York Rangers, becoming the youngest player (36) in NHL history to reach that milestone; when he was 35, he became the youngest to play 1,300 games.
In 2012-13, Marleau joined Cy Denneny of the 1917-18 Ottawa Senators as the only players to open an NHL season with four straight multigoal games.
On Nov. 21, 2015, Marleau got an assist against the Pittsburgh Penguins for his 1,000th NHL point. That season, Marleau and Joe Thornton, the player drafted ahead of him in 1997 by the Boston Bruins, helped the Sharks reach their first Stanley Cup Final. The two often played on the same power-play unit.
After 19 seasons with the Sharks, Marleau signed a three-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 2, 2017. The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Marleau in a trade with the Maple Leafs on June 22, 2019, then bought out the final season of his contract five days later.
A free agent, Marleau returned to the Sharks on a one-year contract Oct. 8, 2019. He scored 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 58 games before he was traded to the Penguins on Feb. 24, 2020.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- WHL West First All-Star Team (1997)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (2004, 2007, 2009)
- Signed as a free agent by Toronto, July 2, 2017.
- Traded to Carolina by Toronto with Toronto's 1st-round pick in 2020 or 2021 NHL Draft and 7th-round pick in 2020 NHL Draft for Carolina's 6th-round pick in 2020 NHL Draft, June 22, 2019.
- Signed as a free agent by San Jose, October 9, 2019.
- Traded to Pittsburgh by San Jose for a conditional pick in 2021 NHL Draft, February 24, 2020.
