The San Jose Sharks announced today that they have re-signed high-scoring forwards Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton.
General manager Doug Wilson said the contract negotiations were unique since both players said they would only re-sign with the club if both of them were given new deals. This left Wilson with no choice really other than to sign them both.
Wilson added that the situation shows how much respect Marleau and Thornton have for each other. After the details were worked out, both players were signed to three-year contract extensions, which will kick in on July 1.
Thornton's new contract will see him paid $6.75 million per year while Marleau will make $6.66 million each season and both players were given no-movement clauses. Thornton said he and Marleau wanted to sign and stay together with the Sharks.
He added, “It's important that we both stay. We both feel like we have a shot to win every year, and I think that's the most important thing. We both really believe in this group of guys, and we want to stay around to see us win a Stanley Cup.”
Marleau claimed that f Thornton didn’t stay in San Jose then there was a good chance he’d sign with another team when his contract expired.
Marleau added that they enjoy playing together on the same team and they also want to win the Stanley Cup together. Even though Thornton and Marleau are both 34 years old, they still have the skills to be top point producers in the NHL.
At the time of the signing, the Sharks captain Thornton was leading the league with 47 assists and was ranked sixth in overall scoring with 53 points.
He had played in 1,176 career regular-season games with San Jose and the Boston Bruins and had 337 goals and 834 assists for 1,171 points. This ranks him No. 25 on the NHL’s all-time list for assists and number 48 for points.
Marleau, who was selected to the Canadian Olympic team for the upcoming games in Sochi, Russia, had 47 points at the time of the contract extension on 21 goals and 26 assists.
Marleau has played in 1,216 regular-season contests with San Jose and has accumulated 908 points on 425 goals along with 483. He is the franchise’s all-time leader when it comes to goals, power-play goals, game-winning goals, shorthanded goals, points and shots.
Thornton was chosen with the top overall pick at the NHL Draft by Boston in 1997 while Marleau was chosen second overall by the Sharks. Thornton joined him in San Jose in November of 2005 when the Sharks acquired him in a trade with the Bruins.
Wilson was also pleased that the two players agreed to sign extensions that will help the club with its salary cap responsibilities due to the structure of the contracts.
The GM said the franchise really appreciates Thornton and Marleau’s dedication and commitment to the overall cause and good of the team. He added that it says a lot about them as teammates and people.
