To the surprise of no one, Marleau and Thornton stay in SJ.

[bustaheims]

Real_ESPNLeBrun: Breaking news: San Jose Sharks have signed Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton to 3-year extensions.

Real_ESPNLeBrun: Marleau's 3-year deal is worth $6.66 M a year AAV; Thornton's deal is $6.75 M a year AAV.

EDIT: The biggest surprise is that they announced the extensions on the same day, and even that's not really a surprise.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

And there goes my dream of seeing Thornton between JVR and Kessel, oh well. They (especially Joe) took quite the discount to stay. I hope they get a Cup before their careers end.

 

[Jalili]

Good for them. Both could have juiced the Sharks for more money if they wanted to.

I guess that officially makes Vanek and Stastny the two top prizes in this year's upcoming UFA class.

 

[Deebo]

Both are down around 250k AAV from their previous deals. The Sharks are 11M under the 71.1M projected cap with 18 players signed, Boyle is the only big ticket player not signed for next season.

Not that its a big deal since its a pretty short term extension, but does anyone know if the 35+ rule applies to these contracts since they will turn 35 this year, or does the player need to be 35 on the day they sign the contract?

 

[bustaheims]

Not that its a big deal since its a pretty short term extension, but does anyone know if the 35+ rule applies to these contracts since they will turn 35 this year, or does the player need to be 35 on the day they sign the contract?

They are not 35+ contracts. To be a 35+ contract, the player has to have turned 35 before the beginning of the league year, which is July 1st. Basically, if a player is already 35 at 11:59:59 PM on June 30th, it's a 35+ contract. If he's not, even if he turns 35 on July 1st, it's not.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

And there goes my dream of seeing Thornton between JVR and Kessel

I can't even imagine how awesome that would have been. 

 

[hockeyfan1]

Good for Thornton and Marleau.  Good for the Sharks. 

Would like to see the Sharks win the Cup, too.  Great fan loyalty has always been an added plus.

GO SHARKS!

 

[Kin]

Hard to believe they'd take less money to stay in Northern California but there you go.

 

[ZBBM]

And there goes my dream of seeing Thornton between JVR and Kessel

I can't even imagine how awesome that would have been.

We'll have to make do with Thiebeau.