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Patrick Marleau (12) against the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, in Los Angeles.
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Can Patrick Marleau fit the Mark Recchi mold as a Cup-winning veteran addition?

AP

Can Patrick Marleau fit the Mark Recchi mold as a Cup-winning veteran addition?

With his big deal already done well in advance, Jim Rutherford felt comfortable he had assembled a Stanley Cup contender as deadline day approached.

That’s when he started to hear rumblings. A respected veteran winger on the back stretch of his career might be willing to waive his no-trade clause if it meant the right opportunity with the right team.

If this sounds like the story behind how the Penguins acquired San Jose’s all-time leading scorer Patrick Marleau, it is — but it also isn’t.

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See, history has this funny way of repeating itself. Before Rutherford was the general manager behind the Penguins’ back-to-back Cup runs and before he pulled the strings on a deal to bring the 40-year-old Marleau to Pittsburgh with a shot to cap his career with a Cup, Rutherford began building his Hall of Fame resume in Carolina.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby returns to practice July 24, 2020, at UPMC Lemieux Complex in Cranberry.
Matt Vensel and Mike DeFabo
Sidney Crosby returns to Penguins practice

In 2006, Rutherford made a move that in many ways mirrors this one. Just ask the player he acquired, Penguins assistant coach Mark Recchi.

“I think there’s a lot of similarities,” said Recchi, who first joined Rutherford’s payroll on March 9, 2006, as a midseason addition to the Hurricanes. “We were top-six forwards for a long time. Then, as you get a little bit older, you learn to play in a different role and accept a different role. Really just try to help your teammates and be a piece of that puzzle to win a championship.”

A piece of the puzzle. That quote from a few days ago is more or less the same message Recchi sent back in 2006.

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"I'm not going in there to be the savior," Recchi said at the time. "I want to be a piece of a great hockey club. If I can be a little piece that can get it over the top, that's what I'm looking for."

Turns out, he did just that.

■■■

The deals are separated by just about 14 years. But the terms and the circumstances are strikingly similar.

Penguins right wing Patric Hornqvist congratulates goaltender Matt Murray after beating the Red Wings, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, at the PPG Paints Arena Uptown.
Paul Zeise
Paul Zeise: Matt Murray should start Game 1 for the Penguins

Just as the Sharks finished this regular season at the bottom of the Western Conference with just 63 points, the Penguins were likewise headed for the basement back then. Mario Lemieux returned following the lockout season to skate alongside an 18-year-old phenom named Sidney Crosby.

The greatness of the past and the promise of the future shared the same ice. But the present? Eh, it was brutal.

Crosby set a franchise record for a Penguins rookie with 102 points. But with Evgeni Malkin still in Russia, the Penguins were missing the young star power that would fuel them through the better part of the next two decades. At 40 years old, and with the Penguins headed for their fourth-consecutive last-place finish in the Eastern Conference, Lemieux announced his retirement on Jan. 24, 2006. This time, it he said goodbye for good.

At 38, Recchi had already hoisted one Cup with Lemieux in the infancy of his career in 1991. But he realized his chances to do it again were running out.

“You start to poke around a little bit on guys like that,” Rutherford told the Post-Gazette this week. “They can go to another team and give them a better chance to be with a playoff team and a team that can contend. If there’s a possibility and the other team says there is, that’s when you move forward and try to make the deal.”

Rutherford likes to do his shopping early, as he showed this year by acquiring Jason Zucker in early February. In 2006, he had already pulled off the blockbuster of the NHL trade season by landing center Doug Weight. But, true to his aggressive nature, when the general manager saw a chance to add another piece, he took it.

“When Recs became available, I had followed his career very close,” Rutherford said. “I knew about his leadership and his character. He was a guy that I really wanted and went after him.

“[Recchi and Marleau] are similar in a lot of ways. The work ethic. The character. The proven career. You feel pretty comfortable that that person can fit in with your team.”

During a Penguins season of transition, Craig Patrick’s successful run as the general manager was approaching its final chapter. With the penultimate trade in his Penguins tenue, Patrick sent Recchi to Carolina in exchange for Krystofer Kolanos, Niklas Nordgren and a 2007 second-round pick.

“I know who I am rooting for to win the Stanley Cup,” Patrick was quoted as saying in the Post-Gazette the next morning.

The two prospects played a grand total of 14 games in a Penguins uniform, so essentially the deal was for a second-round pick. In the Marleau trade, Rutherford gave up a conditional 2021 third-round pick. If the Penguins win the Cup, that turns into a second-round pick — which would add two more parallels to this story.

While Marleau and Recchi are both productive players at this later stage in their careers, Rutherford sees more value than just putting the puck in the net, especially for players who rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in all-time NHL games played. There’s a benefit to a graying beard or a thinning head of hair on a championship contender’s bench. 

“You’re not always looking for a guy who is going to come in and be an impact player,” Rutherford said. “When you get into the playoffs, there’s ups and there’s downs. You need as many strong character guys as you can get. Patrick Marleau is one of those guys and so was Recs.”

During a 2006 Stanley Cup full of momentum swings, Recchi proved it.

■■■

The Hurricanes stormed out to an early 2-1 series lead over Edmonton in the Stanley Cup final. Late in the second period of Game 4, the Oilers tried to clear the puck through the middle of the ice. Eric Staal gloved the puck and fed it to Recchi streaking down the left circle for the eventual game-winning goal.

The goal gave the Canes a decisive 3-1 series lead. Then, Recchi nearly helped clinch it in Game 5, drawing a penalty early in the first overtime period. However, what could have been a championship moment turned into a gut punch. Fernando Pisani picked off a pass and scored a short-handed goal on Cam Ward to stun the Hurricanes and reshape the series.

That short-handed goal sparked a comeback. The Oilers carried the momentum into Game 6, shocking the Hurricanes, 4-0.

What seemed so close just a few games ago was beginning to slip away before a pivotal Game 7. As a veteran and a Cup winner, Recchi brought that calming voice Rutherford was hoping for when he made the move.

“You bring experience and you bring calmness, as well,” Recchi said. “Some guys can get jittery. I think a guy like Patrick is going to be a huge benefit for McCann. Jared McCann is a young guy who has his ups and downs and gets hard on himself. Having a guy like that on his line is going to be very, very important.”

Recchi’s linemates noticed his value in Game 7. Early in the contest, the 38-year-old winger carried the puck below the goal line and flipped a no-look backhand to Aaron Ward. He blasted a one-timer to give the Hurricanes an early 1-0 lead. They never looked back.

When the horn sounded after Carolina’s 3-1 win, Recchi’s No. 16 jersey joined the mob around goalie Cam Ward. The confetti rained down as Queen’s “We are the Champions” blared through the arena.

Three of the players who waited the longest to raise the Cup got it first. Their 35-year-old captain, Rod Brind’Amour, ripped the trophy off the podium, kissed it and thrust it into the air. He had waited 17 years for this moment. Then to 37-year-old Glen Wesley, who had waited 18 years. And then to 35-year-old Bret Hedican who waited 14 years. 

Finally, it found the hands of Recchi, reunited with the greatest trophy in sports for the first time since 1991.

Now, as an unprecedented training camp wraps up, Rutherford, Recchi and the Penguins are headed for another postseason. Recchi and Rutherford are looking to etch their names on the Stanley Cup yet again. And Marleau, who has done everything other than win a championship in his 22-year career, will try to add the finishing touches to a storied career and more parallels to this story.

Maybe, just as he did in 2006, Recchi will watch a man who has waited far too long get his chance to hoist the Stanley Cup.

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Mike DeFabo: mdefabo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDeFabo

First Published: July 23, 2020, 5:45 p.m.

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