LOS ANGELES -- Patrick Marleau seems, at first blush, to be precisely the kind of player the Penguins covet.
He's versatile enough to play a couple of positions. Has excellent intangibles. Skates well. Is a proven goal-scorer.
Everything that he's done during his NHL career suggests that sending a conditional third-round draft choice in 2021 to San Jose for him Monday was a prudent move by Jim Rutherford. Even though the condition on that trade upgrades the pick to a second-rounder if the Penguins win the Stanley Cup this spring.
The only issue, really, centers on how long Marleau has been doing all of those things. He's 40 years old, and has 1,715 regular-season games on his resume. Being so, uh, experienced means that Marleau is not the player he was when he scored 44 goals in 2009-10. Or when he put up 86 points in 2005-06.
But it shouldn't take long to find out if he still can be the player the Penguins need him to be.
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