1. Patrick Marleau
Canes’ legend Patrick Marleau rounds out my Top 3 Legends in Carolina Hurricanes history. How could he not?
Marleau is a monster in his own right; I mean, the man has one of the coolest backyard hockey rinks in the entire world.
Aside from that, though, Marleau would do more for the Canes than almost any other retiree-aged center would do in the years that remained in their careers.
Marleau, despite playing a single game for the Carolina Hurricanes, would lead to the Canes’ stealing the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 1st round pick (13th overall) in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, just for buying out his $6.25M contract.
Enter Seth Jarvis.
Jarvis was, for most scouts, a Top 10 pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft; the Canes got lucky as he fell to them at 13th overall. Jarvis would then go on to light the AHL on fire as the top point-getter and goalscorer before having to go back to the WHL because of dumb, arbitrary league rules.
Jarvis is a likely candidate to make the NHL squad out of training camp next year; this kid is a next-level hockey player.
So, on behalf of the Carolina Hurricanes’ fanbase, I’d like to extend a massive “Thank You!” to Canes’ legend Patrick Marleau and the Toronto Maple Leafs for allowing the Canes to pick up a potential franchise-level prospect in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
In my opinion, retire the #12 immediately; Eric Staal switched to #21 in his move to the Montreal Canadiens, so why not?