If only Joe Thornton would just put his clothes back on and sign a one-year contract with the Sharks, this week would be much easier.
If Patrick Marleau would just decide that he absolutely didn’t want to leave San Jose and sign his own one-year deal, the beloved Los Tiburones would be set for the 2017-18 season.
But that’s not how it is going to play out.
For the first time in their lives, at age 38, Thornton and Marleau are unrestricted free agents. They don’t want one-year agreements. They desire two or three years. And they’ve earned the right to test the marketplace for exactly the sort of deal they want..
All signs point to a lot of testing. From coast to coast.
Which, from my scan of the landscape, leads me to believe that neither Thornton nor Marleau will return to the Sharks, for reasons I’ll explain.
First things first: The NHL free agent signing period does not officially begin until July 1 — or officially, Saturday at 9 a.m. Pacific. However, under the rules, teams are able to contact and discuss general interest with potential signees throughout this week.
Thus far, according to various credible reports, Thornton and Marleau’s ring tones have been singing. Those outlier Shark fans who have been critical of Thornton (allegedly too slow) and Marleau (allegedly not fiery enough) might be surprised to know that the rest of the league greatly much lusts after them. If this were the Bachelorette, it seems the Los Angeles Kings would be groveling for roses.
And the Kings aren’t alone.
Thornton, as the best free agent center available even at his advanced age, has drawn interest from a dozen teams including Montreal, Toronto, Nashville, the New York Rangers and the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. But the hottest team after Thornton is the Kings, where his former Sharks teammate, Rob Blake, is the new general manager.
Marleau, meanwhile, has reportedly received expressions of interest from Anaheim, Toronto, Carolina, Nashville, Los Angeles, Edmonton and the Rangers.
Presumably, the Sharks and GM Doug Wilson are also involved in the mix with both players. But how seriously?
This is no snap decision. Last week, Wilson practically sprained all the circumspect muscles in his body trying not to lend a clue about how intensely he planned to negotiate with Thornton and Marleau, who have outlasted some of the plumbing fixtures at SAP Center. They are the top two scorers in franchise history. The last time that the Sharks played a game without one or the other in the lineup was in 2004.
“We’ve had conversations with them all along, both the agents and the players. I’ll just leave it at that,” Wilson said last week. “They are cornerstone players that we’ll treat with great respect.”
But then Wilson added: “My job is to do the right thing for the organization.”
Which is . . . . ? We’re going to find out pretty soon.
Because the Sharks have Thornton and Marleau under contract until July 1, Wilson is the only GM with the ability to get their signatures on a new deal before then. Indications are that isn’t the plan. Plus, after the two players have journeyed this far along the free agent path, why wouldn’t they wait a few more days to see exactly what’s out there?
For both men, this is a wildly new experience. Previously, the Sharks made sure to renew and extend their contracts well before they expired, making sure they never came close to free agency. But two factors worked against that following the 2016-17 season. One was last week’s expansion draft to stock the NHL’s new Las Vegas team. If Wilson had re-signed Thornton and Marleau before then, the GM would have had to put them on the Sharks’ protected list and thus exposed more young players to possible selection by the Vegas franchise.
But the second factor was probably the thorniest. Thornton and his agent, brother John, have expressed a desire for a three-year deal. Marleau has said he would prefer a similar term. But is it wise to give three-year contracts to players who will be 40 years old in the third season of such a deal?
Some team will think so. I’m just not convinced it will be the Sharks. Thornton and Marleau have always taken care of their bodies (just look at the nude photo of Jumbo Joe in the latest ESPN magazine) and have missed very few games in their careers due to injury. But history shows that age matters in the NHL. There was only one 40-year-old-plus in the league last season, the remarkable Jaromir Jagr.
No question, the offensive production of Thornton and Marleau would be missed by the Sharks in the upcoming season and would be difficult to immediately replace. That’s why, if the two would agree to sign one-year deals, the choice would be a no brainer. Wilson might even pay them the same roughly $6.7 million in salary each man made last season.
But committing that much for three seasons? There are complications with that. Wilson is working on expensive new contract extensions with goalie Martin Jones and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic that will kick in with the 2018-19 season and squeeze the Sharks’ salary cap toward the ceiling. Wilson would have to get very creative to fit Thornton and Marleau’s compensation beneath that ceiling in two years — unless the two would agree to a significantly reduced deal.
Would they? In the past when signing their extensions, you could look at comparable players around the league and surmise that Thornton and Marleau have given the Sharks a so-called “hometown discount” — not a drastic one but definitely a notch below what they could have received by becoming free agents. Now, in what are likely the final NHL contracts they will ever sign, the two men are not likely to take that route — nor should they, unless they love playing in San Jose and don’t want to think about leaving.
That’s where the intrigue festers. Thornton and Marleau do enjoy living and playing here. Marleau’s wife is from San Jose and it’s almost a sure bet the family will stay in the South Bay after his playing career is done. Thornton also lives here year-round and his Swiss-born wife has come to love the area as they’ve grown their family. The Thorntons might well make this their permanent home after his own retirement.
None of that means they will accept less from the Sharks than another NHL team, this time around. Nor should they be expected to do so.
The off-ice factors here are complicated. Remember that “feud” between Wilson and Thornton in 2015? It erupted when Wilson answered a fan’s question about why Thornton’s team captaincy was removed by explaining that Thornton cared about the game so much and had such a “big heart” that “when stress comes on him, he lashes out at people.” An angry Thornton said Wilson should keep his mouth shut. Franchise owner Hasso Plattner got on the phone to both and turned down the temperature. Wilson and Thornton spoke man-to-man to sort it out, with no further repercussions–and in 2016 the Sharks reached the Stanley Cup Final. Thornton has never said a bad word about Wilson since. But there are people around him who still simmer over the Wilson episode.
Marleau also had his team captain stripped at one point and two years ago, his camp floated word that he’d be open to a trade. The Stanley Cup run ended all talk of that and Marleau went on to score 27 goals last season. Marleau’s family may love their life in San Jose, the only place he’s played in his 20-year career. But would it be that difficult for him to join another California team, keep his kids in their familiar school here and jet back home on certain off days?
Rest assured, one or more of the aforementioned NHL teams who’ve expressed interest in Thornton and Marleau will come after each of them hard. At this stage of their lives, the two would surely look to be playing for a Stanley Cup contender to finally bring them a ring. So you can probably rule out Carolina and Toronto.`But what if the Penguins make a strong pitch to Thornton and agree to the three years? What if Thornton’s old friend Blake convinces Jumbo that Los Angeles is the perfect place for him to make one more push for the Cup? What if Anaheim makes a sweet offer to Marleau? What if Nashville convinces Patty that he’s the one missing piece for them to win it all and backs it up with big bucks?
Wilson might not be in position to match the terms of those offers. He might be just as eager to see what his team’s development system with the San Jose Barracuda can provide over the next few seasons. He might make one-year or two-year offers to Thornton and Marleau and say that’s the best the Sharks can do.
If it were me making the call? I would prioritize Thornton and try to make him happy, just because it’s harder to find or develop a world-class passer of his caliber. Even if he’s not as swift a skater as he once was–and his offseason knee surgery raises more questions about that–Thornton can still find open lanes on the power play when the game becomes essentially the NHL version of the half court offense. Joe Pavelski, the biggest beneficiary of Thornton’s assists over the years, would definitely miss his presence.
But it’s also hard to imagine a Sharks’ team without Marleau, who can obviously still skate and score. And you can certainly make the case that if Wilson can only afford to re-sign one of the two stalwart veterans, Marleau should be the guy because he’s the one who isn’t coming off knee surgery.
There’s also the possibility that after one of the two men signs elsewhere, the Sharks will up their best offer to the remaining guy in order to keep him on the roster . . . unless, that is, Thornton and Marleau don’t want to stay in San Jose without the other also staying.
So many angles to this. So much to consider. So few remaining days to sort it out before the July 1 free-for-all begins. Until then, the gossip winds will continue to blow. But as I ponder all of the above elements, my gut tells me the Sharks will be playing without either Thornton or Marleau come October. Considering what they’ve meant to the franchise, that is a melancholy thought. Better get used to it.
