Mike Ribeiro provided the double-minor for high-sticking, Logan Couture provided the heroics, giving the San Jose Sharks a 4-3 overtime victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. Only 56 games into his NHL career, the rookie with the toothy grin and pinpoint accuracy has been the Sharks’ most valuable player this season. In fact, Ryane Clowe is the only player within shouting distance of Couture, who leads the team in goals with 15 and currently sits tied with Steven Stamkos, Rick Nash and Dustin Byfuglien for the league lead in game-winning tallies. Just how good is he? Even people east of the mighty Mississippi are beginning to take notice – no small feat for a Sharks player who isn’t named Thornton or Heatley.
What’s made Couture better than the aforementioned superstars this season has been his ability to create offense, rather than waiting for it to come to him. He’s doesn’t waste any time lingering around the perimeter hoping for passing lanes to open up, and hasn’t set up shop at the top of the faceoff circle and attempted to pound any puck-sized holes through goaltending equipment; Couture simply hustles to get to the scoring areas and constantly alters his offensive approach. Watching him play, you’d never guess he battled mononucleosis and concussions en route to the NHL. Yes, he’s as slippery as a greased piglet, with incredible hockey instincts and a nose for the net that Shark fans haven’t seen since Owen Nolan departed in 2003.
Even more impressive than his steadily-increasing point total (22 in 32 games) is the fact that Couture is producing without any significant power play time. In San Jose, the man advantage is where the big boys reside; the ones who can shrug off their lackluster play by pointing to the secondary assists they’re able to rack up playing on a power play that consists of Thornton, Heatley, Marleau, Pavelski and Boyle. Clowe and Couture are 1-2 in even-strength points and plus-minus, yet they’re averaging less than 18 minutes per game and approximately 2:40 of second-unit power play time. And while Clowe has been great, no other Shark has shown displayed more offensive and defensive balance than Couture. Is he good? Oh yes Virginia, he is very good.
In fact, the front-runner in the race for the Calder Trophy is so good he’s making Shark fans wonder why they’re watching their favorite club waste valuable cap space on players who make nearly six times more than Couture, but don’t put in half the effort. Patrick Marleau is one of those players, and his play has been so poor recently that Todd McLellan has placed him alongside the dynamic duo (Clowe and Couture) in an effort to get the former captain going. Far better coaches than McLellan have tried and failed, and Marleau’s play is eerily reminiscent of the 2007-08 season when he made everyone around him worse, including head coach Ron Wilson, who was unceremoniously fired at the end of the tumultuous campaign.
Whether it’s the result of laziness, age, injury, the comfort of a lucrative contract, or the immunity and ignorance offered by an ever-forgiving general manager, Marleau has only one point in his last eight games and one goal in his last 12. Devin Setoguchi lit the lamp twice in less than 16 minutes of ice time on Thursday night, needing only three shots to do it. Marleau has only one goal in his last 251 minutes, playing on the Sharks’ first power play unit and recording 31 shots during that span. You might not have seen this coming when he signed a four-year, $27.6 million contract during the offseason, but here’s the list of San Jose players who have scored more points than Marleau (2) during the month of December:
As if the lack of production wasn’t disappointing enough, Marleau is a team-worst minus-17, finishing with a negative plus-minus in 18 of his 32 games this season. By contrast, Couture is a respectable plus-7, finding himself on the wrong side of zero only six times. Those are troubling statistics, not only when you think of the money being allocated to each player, but also when you consider that Marleau’s best years are behind him and he still has more than three years remaining on his mammoth contract. Ironically, he’s currently on pace for a minus-44, matching his goal total from last season, and if you’ve seen him play recently you know it’s going to be a stretch for him to break 20.
Considering all the factors that come into play, it’s hard not think of the words Jeremy Roenick spoke back in April, telling a Toronto radio station, “He's been there too long and they have not won with him there, they need to go out and try to do something different. Patrick Marleau is a guy that you can dispose of and get some good people for.” At this point the Toronto Maple Leafs could have him, reuniting Marleau with his former coach in exchange for a serviceable defenseman and the much-needed salary cap space. If the Sharks are looking for a quick fix they should get a deal done, because it's time to embrace the future and shake off the past. Set aside a chunk of that cap space for Couture, bump up the youngster’s minutes, salvage a season that’s gone awry, and bring an end to Marleau’s long and often disappointing time in San Jose.
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