Doug Wilson is in a bit of a pickle right now. Finding trade partners for an aging veteran with a significant salary is hard enough. Knowing you have just three partners to work with (and two of them are in your division) is downright cruel.
Let’s make a case for each team on Patrick Marleau’s trade shortlist
Patrick Marleau wants a trade to three teams. Only one of them makes sense for everyone involved.
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
But that's the hand the San Jose Sharks general manager has been dealt. Reports surfaced on Tuesday that 36-year-old Sharks winger Patrick Marleau is willing to waive his no trade clause for just three teams: the New York Rangers, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.
That doesn't mean Wilson is willing to trade him or that Marleau actively wants out of the Bay Area. But Marleau knows his career is coming to a close and he wants a Stanley Cup. If San Jose isn't in a position to make that happen in a couple of months, a trade seems likely.
But which of those three teams would want him? And would Wilson even consider a trade to a division rival?
Let’s discuss.
Before we start, we need to identify what Marleau is at this point in his career. Even at 36, he’s blessed with elite speed, soft hands and excellent positional awareness in the offensive zone. Every so often he’ll put all of that on display at once.
He’s streaky, but Marleau is still a solid two-way winger with speed to burn. That’s attractive. What isn’t is his cap hit. He’s making $6,666,666 million each year until 2018.
The Rangers
This might be the best fit. Both Marleau and the Rangers know their Stanley Cup window is short and both are desperate enough to make moves. New York traded for Martin St. Louis last season to bolster its playoff run. Marleau could play a similar role for the Rangers.
And he could help their power play. Both the Sharks and Rangers rank in the lower third of the league on the man advantage. But per War-on-Ice, Marleau has generated 41 scoring chances on the power play this year. Mats Zuccarello leads Rangers forwards with only 23. Marleau can help in a crucial area in New York.
And at even strength he can slot in between players like Kevin Hayes and Oscar Lindberg, or on the wing of Derek Stepan and Rick Nash. The fit is there if New York wants it.
But whether they can afford it is the problem. According to General Fanager, the Rangers have $1,100,500 in cap space to work with. They’d have to shed a ton of salary to squeeze Marleau in, not to mention the couple of good prospects the Sharks would want in return. Is Rangers GM Jeff Gorton willing to make that kind of sacrifice again?
The Ducks
That salary cap problem in New York? Not a problem in Anaheim. The Ducks have more than $7 million in cap room to work with, meaning their roster won’t be gutted as hard as the Rangers if they deal for Marleau.
But they’re in the same position as the Rangers when it comes to Stanley Cup desperation. After repeated playoff disappointments, the Ducks might be the hungriest team in the Western Conference. That might make them more willing to deal with their division rivals if the Sharks come calling.
And it’s not like the Ducks are overflowing with offense right now. Sure, it’s picked up with 15 goals in their last five games. But we now know just how cold the Ducks’ attack can get. If they start to slip again in the latter stages of the season, then a trade for Marleau makes a certain kind of sense.
But that whole “division rival” thing looms large.
The Kings
Proven winners. Solid foundation. They've taken skilled scorers like Jeff Carter and Marian Gaborik and made them fit well within their heavy fore-checking style of play. And, like Anaheim, they don't require a huge move from San Jose. Of course Marleau is interested.
But would Los Angeles be interested in him? It doesn’t look like a team with a lot of holes to fill. Both the power play and penalty kill rank in the league’s top 10, and the Kings average the second-most shots on net (31.8) despite a pretty low scoring rate (2.47).
Plus, a younger scoring threat has emerged where Marleau could have fit in once upon a time. Tyler Toffoli leads the NHL in goals thanks to a (probably unsustainable) 28 percent shooting percentage. On a team with plenty of defensive skill, scoring abilities and little cap space, it's not clear why Marleau would be a great fit.
Which might not matter anyways. Doug Wilson simply doesn't trade with his division rivals. Since Kings GM Dean Lombardi and Wilson were named to their posts, they've traded with each other once. And that was a draft pick swap in 2008. The last time the Sharks traded with the Ducks was in 2009, when Wilson sent Nick Bonino, Timo Pielmeier and a draft pick to Anaheim for Travis Moen and Kent Huskins.
It’s hard to believe Wilson would change his ways for a player as important to San Jose as Marleau. So if the Sharks decide to make a move, Marleau doesn’t expand his list and the cap issues get sorted out, I’m putting my money on the Rangers in this hunt.
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