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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – During a joint interview midway through last season, Mitch Marner asked teammate Patrick Marleau for some career advice. The veteran winger was happy to share warm words with the emerging star.  

“Just realize how good you are,” Marleau said in the clip from Leafs Nation Network. “I don’t know if you realize how good you are. How great you are – are going to be.”

In hindsight, it was a prescient statement by Marleau. Months later, at the NHL draft in June, the 22-year pro waived his no-trade clause so the Leafs could send him (along with a first-round draft pick in 2020) to Carolina to free up $6.25 million in cap space that they would use to sign Marner to a six-year, $65.3 million deal in September.​

“No better person to [be traded] for,” Marleau told Postmedia on Tuesday. “That makes it easy.”

The Hurricanes eventually agreed to buy out the final year of Marleau’s contract, allowing him a chance at re-signing in San Jose, where he spent 19 seasons previously before joining Toronto from 2017-19. It took until after the regular season started, but Marleau finally did ink a one-year pact with San Jose and will face his former team for the first time since the trade on Friday.

Almost from day one of joining the Leafs, Marleau has cultivated a unique bond with Marner and fellow young star Auston Matthews, inviting them to his home for dinners and, in Matthews’ case, Christmas holidays with his wife, Christina, and four sons.

Even after the business of trading Marleau was settled, the veteran stayed in close contact with both players, helping Marner navigate a difficult summer of contract negotiations.

“It's super nice to hear from him [that he was okay with the trade],” Marner said on Friday after the Leafs’ optional morning skate. “We were still in touch this whole summer and during this whole process that I was going through. He was a guy that I leaned on a lot to talk to and go back to and he’s always been in all of our corners here in Toronto. He's always meant a lot to this team.”

Marner said he still thinks about that advice Marleau gave him last year, saying it’s something “I'll keep in the back of my mind and always be positive about.”

“That’s a guy that a lot of kids still look up to playing hockey,” Marner said. “He grew up in a small town [in Aneroid, Sask.] and seeing how far he’s made it, and how many years he's played and how hard he works still, it's something unbelievable.”

Marner and Matthews were barely out of their teens when Marleau arrived in Toronto, and seemed not to have much in common with a father in his late 30s. But a friendship flourished quickly, albeit after a little awkwardness.

“He was just really quiet, so I think for the first month it was just trying to get to know him,” Matthews said. “It was pretty funny; you fast forward a couple months during that first season and he's in our room [on the road] with me and Mitch watching Cars 3, and fast forward a couple years and we're extremely close. He’s a special person and I know we miss him here in this locker room. It was just amazing the way he welcomed us in and it was nice to be a part of that family.”

And then there were the “heated” mini sticks clashes that halted only for food and water breaks.

“About two minutes after you're done eating, there’s three boys all around you with sticks and asking when we're going down to play,” Marner laughed. “Those are probably my favourite memories. When I went back and saw his house in Cali, they had a pool there, so it was ‘When are we going in the pool?' and then as soon as we get out of the pool, it’s ‘When are we hitting in the mini stick room?’”

Doing what was best for his family was top of mind for Marleau when it became clear the third and final year of his deal wasn’t going to fit in Toronto’s budget. Marleau hadn’t lost the itch to play after tallying 84 points (43 goals, 41 assists) in 164 games with the Leafs, but having uprooted his family from their permanent home in the Bay Area for a couple years, returning to California was in everyone’s best interest.

“We couldn't get him [on a two-year deal]. We tried,” explained Mike Babcock on Friday. “We knew the math didn’t work out when we signed him. Patty did an unbelievable job for us, helped the guys. He’s a great teammate everywhere he’s been. He was elated to sign in San Jose to take his family home. His wife and his kids were pumped.”

Marleau has transitioned seamlessly back into San Jose's lineup, posting six points (two goals, four assists) in six games. Because the Sharks played in Montreal on Thursday, Marleau will meet with the media before puck drop Friday to reflect on his time in Toronto. But for a player who spent a relatively short two-year span with the Leafs, it’s clear the legacy he left behind remains intact.

“He was such a nice guy and he was so kind to me and Auston when we first got in here and he really took us under his wing,” Marner said. “It was something that I always appreciated.”

 

Maple Leafs projected lineup vs. San Jose

Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander

Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Marner

Moore-Spezza-Kapanen

Timashov-Shore-Gauthier

 

Rielly-Ceci

Muzzin-Barrie

Gravel-Holl

 

Andersen starts

Hutchinson