The forward will play his 1,500th regular-season game as a member of the San Jose Sharks on Friday against his only other NHL team.
"It's kind of weird how things happen sometimes," Marleau said about the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena (7 p.m. ET; SN1, TVAS, NBCSCA, NHL.TV). "It'll be good. It'll be exciting to see those guys and line up and battle against them, compete against them. It'll be fun."
Marleau will become the seventh NHL player with 1,500 games with one franchise, joining Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings, 1,687), Nicklas Lidstrom (Red Wings, 1,564), Alex Delvecchio (Red Wings, 1,550), Shane Doan (Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes, 1,540), Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins, 1,518) and Steve Yzerman (Red Wings, 1,514).
Selected by the Sharks with the No. 2 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft, Marleau played 1,493 games for San Jose before signing a three-year, $18.75 million contract with the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent July 2, 2017. After playing 164 games in two seasons with Toronto, the 40-year-old was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on June 22. The Hurricanes bought out the final season of Marleau's contract June 27, and he signed a one-year contract to return to the Sharks on Oct. 9.