Leafs get serious about Stanley Cup contention in signing Patrick Marleau
TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs showed they were serious about Stanley Cup contention right now in poaching Patrick Marleau from the San Jose Sharks.
Marleau joined the Leafs on a three-year deal Sunday night, ending a 20-year tenure with the Sharks, who drafted him second overall in 1997. The 37-year-old instantly beefs up a rising Toronto squad that nearly toppled the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the playoffs last April and one that evidently believes it’s ready to contend for the Stanley Cup as soon as the coming season.
Signing Marleau — alongside subtler roster upgrades on July 1 — makes that clear.
“It was the team, I think,” Marleau said of picking the Leafs in free agency. “The excitement that’s around it, the youth, the coaching staff, the coach, the management, the way they see the game going, the players that they have on their roster. It’s extremely exciting to be a part of that.”