In addition to the on-ice benefit of securing two first-rounders in one draft, it’s also helpful for the players to have someone to lean on who can relate to what they are going through. Marleau had Hannan, 2023’s first-rounders, Will Smith and Quentin Musty, also have a bond and the inbound pair will too.
“I think it’s huge and super important for them. Two players coming in, having similar experiences, coming in at the same time, learning the same things, going through the same struggles,” Marleau said. “It’s only going to make them better veteran leaders down the road and will make them better players. Me coming in with Scotty Hannan, just to have someone your age that you can hang out with or talk to and everything’s new for them too. So, you can kind of bounce things off of each other and learn a lot that way.”
Marleau came out of the draft at 18, went straight to the Sharks, and stayed there.
“Coming out of the WHL and making the NHL right away, I think I was too young and naive to think I could do anything else. I came to camp in my head, you know, ‘I’m going to make this team.’ Must’ve done pretty well ‘cause they kept me around,” Marleau said.
Playing against grown men, traveling, keeping up with an 82-game schedule can be tough on anyone let alone an 18-year-old. However, Marleau thinks this generation comes in more prepared to make the jump.
“Now, because of the rule changes, they can excel right away as opposed to when I first came in when you had to get bigger, get stronger. Now the way they come in, they’re so skilled, they’re a lot more developed than players probably when I first came in. So they can take that burden and use their skill to their advantage,” Marleau said.
While Hannan said he had a good first camp it wasn’t until he was a 20-year-old that he really stayed with the NHL club.
The start to their careers differed slightly but both noted how important the veterans and the staff were to their development.
“I think I had some of the best veteran leadership an 18-year-old could have when I came into the Sharks,” Marleau said. “They had so many veteran guys. Kelly Hrudey took me in my first year. Bernie Nicholls, Tony Granato, Gary Suter, Marty McSorley, all these guys were idols of mine growing up, and being able to sit in the locker room, going out to dinner with them.”
He continued, “They basically told me, they taught me, they showed me, they did everything. I couldn’t…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at "ice hockey" – Google News…