Marleau retires as NHL's all-time games played leader

Longtime San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau retired Tuesday after 23 NHL seasons.

The 42-year-old confirmed his decision in The Players' Tribune. He's the league's all-time leader in games played with 1,779. He didn't suit up in the NHL this season.

Marleau played 20 full campaigns and part of another with the Sharks, who drafted him second overall in 1997.

The Saskatchewan-born skater spent his first 19 seasons with San Jose before playing two with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He then suited up for 58 games with his original club in 2019-20 before the Sharks traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the deadline.

Marleau re-signed with San Jose in October 2020 and broke Gordie Howe's games played record of 1,767 in April 2021.

"(Retirement is) bittersweet for sure, but I have so much to look forward to," Marleau wrote in a piece published Tuesday. "Who knows what the world has in store for me. If you would have told that kid on the frozen pond that he would break a games played record held by none other than Gordie Howe, he would have thought you were crazy.

"It was never something I aimed for; it was just me loving this game so much that I never, ever wanted to hang up my skates."

Marleau is the Sharks' all-time leader in goals, points, even-strength goals, power-play goals, shorthanded goals, game-winners, and shots on goal.

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