You can now officially scratch the names “Thornton… and “Marleau… off your UFA-to-be-summer shopping list.
On Friday afternoon, San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson announced three- year contract extensions with his 34 year-old superstar forwards Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.
Wilson told the Sharks website:
"Patrick and Joe continue to perform at an elite level in the National Hockey League and, most importantly, they make the other players around them better," general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. "They both made it very clear that they wanted to stay in San Jose and we were able to agree on contracts that fit with our team building philosophy."
There’s a lot to love about the Sharks, having made it to the Western Conference Finals three times in the past ten seasons, however, the dynamic duo have never advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals. Will this be there year to do so?
One wonders why Thornton and Marleau were so eager to leave money on the table. As UFAs, each player would have certainly hit the lottery and been paid north of $7 million per season had they hit the open market bidding wars in July 2014. Wilson appears to have gotten the better end of the stick in both deals.
Reports peg Thornton’s new at a neat and tidy $6.75 million AAV. Marleau’s is a devilishly cap friendly $6.66 million.
According to CSN Bay Area, contract talks with Thornton began in October 2013, and gained momentum again in December. Thornton apparently delayed the signing his deal until Marleau finalized his new deal.
Jumbo Joe is the great white shark and leads his team in scoring with 53 points. He leads all playmakers with 47 helpers in 51 games played. Since his trade to San Jose from Boston on Nov. 30, 2005, the Sharks have the most points and wins in the NHL, posting a 389-184-76 record (65.8% points percentage) and Thornton is the NHL’s second-leading scorer during that span (717 points [168 goals, 549 assists] behind Alex Ovechkin, 759 points). Named the eighth captain in team history on Oct. 7, 2010, Thornton ranks second on the Sharks all-time points list and is first in assists.
Marleau is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer 47 (26G, 21A) in 51 games played.
*** According to capgeek.com, here are the top 32 pending UFA’s (sorted by their position, present team, age, and 2013-14 salary).
You better believe that Moulson, Vanek, Stastny, Gaborik, Cammalleri, Iginla, Alfredsson, Heater and Hemsky are licking their chops now that the market for hot forwards has been set at between $6.66M and $6.75M.
High tide floats all ships, eh boys?
With the 2014 salary cap on the rise to $71 million ($52.5-$53 million floor), bidding wars between rival teams will be waged for the right to sign the top scorers in this impressive pending UFA class.
Gaborik R CBUS 31 $7,500,000 Heatley L MIN 33 $7,500,000 Vanek L NYI 30 $7,142,857 Stastny C COL 28 $6,600,000 Cammalleri L CGY 31 $6,000,000 Iginla R BOS 36 $6,000,000 Alfredsson R DET 41 $5,500,000 Hemsky R EDM 30 $5,000,000 Gionta R MTL 35 $5,000,000 Legwand C NAS 33 $4,500,000 Jokinen C WPG 35 $4,500,000 Whitney L DAL 41 $4,500,000 Michalek L OTT 29 $4,333,333 Callahan R NYR 28 $4,275,000 Jagr R NJD 41 $4,000,000 Roy C STL 30 $4,000,000 Koivu C ANA 39 $3,500,000 Bolland C TOR 27 $3,375,000 Moulson L BUF 30 $3,133,333 Vrbata R PHX 32 $3,000,000 Jokinen L PIT 30 $3,000,000 Grabovski C WAS 29 $3,000,000 Setoguchi R WPG 27 $3,000,000 Samuelsson R DET 37 $3,000,000 Ott C BUF 31 $2,950,000 Kulemin R TOR 27 $2,800,000 Downie R PHI 26 $2,650,000 Stempniak R CGY 30 $2,500,000 Smyth L EDM 37 $2,250,000 Moss R PHX 32 $2,100,000 Bertuzzi R DET 38 $2,075,000 Bouchard R NYI 29 $2,000,000 Selanne R ANA 43 $2,000,000
You better believe that Moulson, Vanek, Stastny, Gaborik, Cammalleri, Iginla, Heater and Hemsky are licking their chops now that the market for hot shot forwards has been set at between $6.66M and $6.75M, courtesy of Jumbo Joe and Marleau. With the 2014 salary cap on the rise to $71 million ($58 million floor), bidding wars between rival teams will be waged for the right to sign the top scorers in this impressive pending UFA class.
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