Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton still valuable for Sharks
How quickly those three years have passed, and here we are again wondering what San Jose will do with a pair of aging franchise pillars who seem to have plenty of hockey left in their 37-year-old bodies?
Marleau has appeared in all 241 regular-season games since re-signing and has scored 68 goals along with 80 assists for 148 points.
Thornton has appeared in all but four games since re-signing and has assisted on 156 goals in addition to scoring 43 for 199 points.
Thornton averaged nearly a point per game before the extension (1,167 points in 1,176 career games) and has dipped slightly to a still very respectable 0.84 per since.
[...] he’ll stand alone at No. 23 for career games played after appearing in his 1,458th contest Saturday to break a tie with Glen Wesley — up a whopping 79 spots from when he sat 102nd at the time of his new deal.
Since the two signed their current deals, the Sharks have gone 132-89-20, earning points in 63 percent of their regular-season games.
Marleau and Thornton have played significant roles in all 31 of San Jose’s postseason games since, including last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Thornton continues to thrive centering one of the team’s top scoring lines, runs one of the league’s most feared power plays and flies under the radar with his defensive tenacity and execution.
Maybe he’s a late-bloomer, but onetime Sharks backup goalie Thomas Greiss is turning heads in the NHL.
[...] starting for the Islanders, the 31-year-old ranks third in the league with a .937 save percentage at even strength.
Selected 94th in the 2004 draft by San Jose, Greiss resurrected his NHL career after stops in Sweden and Germany following 44 appearances with the Sharks from 2008-13.
Oilers star Connor McDavid, who had seven three-point games this season before Friday, is fourth among active players in the fewest games needed to record 100 career points (92 games).
Marleau has appeared in all 241 regular-season games since re-signing and has scored 68 goals along with 80 assists for 148 points.
Thornton has appeared in all but four games since re-signing and has assisted on 156 goals in addition to scoring 43 for 199 points.
Thornton averaged nearly a point per game before the extension (1,167 points in 1,176 career games) and has dipped slightly to a still very respectable 0.84 per since.
[...] he’ll stand alone at No. 23 for career games played after appearing in his 1,458th contest Saturday to break a tie with Glen Wesley — up a whopping 79 spots from when he sat 102nd at the time of his new deal.
Since the two signed their current deals, the Sharks have gone 132-89-20, earning points in 63 percent of their regular-season games.
Marleau and Thornton have played significant roles in all 31 of San Jose’s postseason games since, including last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Thornton continues to thrive centering one of the team’s top scoring lines, runs one of the league’s most feared power plays and flies under the radar with his defensive tenacity and execution.
Maybe he’s a late-bloomer, but onetime Sharks backup goalie Thomas Greiss is turning heads in the NHL.
[...] starting for the Islanders, the 31-year-old ranks third in the league with a .937 save percentage at even strength.
Selected 94th in the 2004 draft by San Jose, Greiss resurrected his NHL career after stops in Sweden and Germany following 44 appearances with the Sharks from 2008-13.
Oilers star Connor McDavid, who had seven three-point games this season before Friday, is fourth among active players in the fewest games needed to record 100 career points (92 games).