Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The Slumping Patrick Marleau

01/09/2015 at 6:39pm EST

Kevin Kurz of CSNBayArea answered a few tweets/emails...

Is Marleau's fall off in goals attributed to his new role to make room for the younger skaters?

Not at all, and Marleau’s role on the team, at least on the ice, has remained the same. He’s still primarily on the second line wing with center Logan Couture when everyone is healthy, and he’s a mainstay on the top power play unit.

Marleau’s goal production, of course, has fallen off a cliff. The team’s highest paid player in terms of actual salary at $7 million, Marleau is on pace for 14 goals, which would be his lowest total since scoring 13 in 74 games in his rookie season of 1997-98.

The even-keeled veteran doesn’t seem overly concerned, saying over and over that the chances are there. And, while he’s had some open looks in recent weeks during his one-goal-in-20-games slump, I went back and looked at the seven goals he scored this season, and compared them with the Sharks’ hottest scorer of late – Melker Karlsson.

Of Marleau’s seven goals, three have come on the power play, while one was with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Obviously, there’s more room to operate in the offensive zone in such situations.

continue for more on Marleau and other Sharks related topics...

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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