Rumors have long circulated that 17-year San Jose Shark Patrick Marleau is on the trading block.
Those rumors accelerated recently, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reporting on Saturday that Marleau could be on the move, though Marleau has denied that the team asked him to waive his no trade clause.
The denials have some credibility according to a report on Tuesday night, only not in the way you think.
The team may not have asked him to waive his no trade clause because, according to CSN Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz, Marleau has told the team three teams that he’d accept a trade to, including the in-division rival Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, as well as the New York Rangers.
Kurz says it’s not clear if the team asked for a list of teams or if Marleau offered the names independently, but TSN’s Bob McKenzie says that it’s most likely that Marleau took the initiative and asked San Jose to “explore trade possibilities.”
All three of those are tricky moves, with the Sharks unlikely to be too eager to ship a player of Marleau’s caliber to two teams competing for a playoff spot inside the division. The Rangers are also tricky dancing partner, with the team pressed up against the salary cap, having just barely over $1 million in cap space available.
Marleau has two years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $6,666,666. He’d be an attractive deadline piece for competitive teams looking for an edge at the trade deadline when the cap hit wouldn’t sting as much, undoubtedly, but his NMC and salary make it tricky to see how this works.
He has four goals and five assists through 14 games this season.
https://twitter.com/KKurzCSN/status/664334811008385024
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