Patrick Marleau suited up for his 1700th career NHL game on Saturday night, as the Sharks took on the Dallas Stars. Marleau became just the fifth player ever to reach the 1700-game mark.
Marleau has now moved into fifth all-time in games played following just Gordie Howe (1767), Mark Messier (1756), Jaromir Jagr (1733), and Ron Francis (1731).
If Marleau can avoid injury this season, he should be able to pass Francis and Jagr to move up to third all-time on the games played list. Assuming that Marleau has another year in him, he could be the all-time leader by the time the 2020-21 season comes to a close.
Marleau's teammate, Joe Thornton is also moving up the all-time games played list, right now he sits 12th with 1612.
Since being drafted second overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Marleau has gone on to record 558 goals and add 623 assists for 1181 points in 1699 career games. He is the Sharks' franchise leader in games played, goals, and points.
In addition to his individual success, Marleau has won two Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014, and also helped the Sharks reach the 2016 Stanley Cup Final.
