LOS ANGELES -- The Penguins have bolstered their bottom-six forwards by acquiring veteran Patrick Marleau from the Sharks.
The Penguins will send a conditional third-round draft choice in 2021 to the San Jose for him.
The pick will become a second-rounder if the Penguins win the Stanley Cup.
An interesting wrinkle to that condition: Marleau has played in 1,715 career regular-season games, the most ever by an NHL player who hasn't won a Cup.
"His desire to get that ultimate prize is gonna be big for him," Jim Rutherford told reporters in Cranberry, Pa. "He should be a good fit for us."
In a statement released earlier by the team, Rutherford called Marleau "a player who can play anywhere in our lineup. He’s a good two-way player, provides leadership and will be a good fit with our team."
Marleau, 40, is primarily a left winger, but also can play center.
Given all of their injuries this season, one thing about Marleau that probably appealed to them was his durability: He has appeared in 846 consecutive games, the fifth-longest ironman streak in NHL history. Florida defenseman Keith Yandle is the only active player with a longer streak.
Marleau has 10 goals and 10 assists in 58 games this season, while averaging about 15 1/2 minutes of playing time per game.
He has won 51.8 percent of his faceoffs this season, but has taken just 56 of them in 2019-20.
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, in a statement released by the team, said Marleau "deserves every opportunity to have a chance at winning a Stanley Cup, and we're happy to help accommodate that. We wish him the best of luck."
Marleau is 6 foot 2, 215 pounds and a good skater who has a history of goal-scoring.
Not surprisingly, though, his productivity has tailed off in recent years.
Marleau has 561 goals and 625 assists in those 1,715 regular-season games -- the fifth-highest total of games-played in NHL history -- and 72 goals and 55 assists in 191 career playoff games.
He had no goals and two assists in seven playoff games with Toronto last spring.
Marleau presumably will play primarily on the third or fourth line, but could get some work alongside Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin at times.
He carries a salary-cap hit of $700,000 and will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. It is not known if he intends to play in 2020-21.
The Penguins announced that Marleau will wear No. 12, as he has throughout his career. Dominik Simon, who had been wearing that number, will switch to No. 18, worn most recently by Alex Galchenyuk.
