The San Jose Sharks official website is reporting that the team has re-signed restricted free agent Joe Pavelski and unrestricted free agent Patrick Marleau, both on four year contracts. Financial terms of the deals were not made immediately available.
General manager Doug Wilson did a good job of summing up why the two were re-signed:
Both players had a tremendous regular season, excelled on the ice for their respective countries at the Winter Olympics and elevated their game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They have solidified their place in the game among the League’s top forwards and we are excited as an organization to have Joe and Patty back in San Jose to build on what we accomplished last season.
This news comes just after the team announced they would not be bringing back longtime goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, also an unrestricted free agent. Marleau has played all of his 12 NHL seasons with the Sharks; the on-again, off-again captain of the team was voted Sharks Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Pavelski, the younger of the two at 25, turned it on in the NHL Playoffs this year, posting nine goals (the most on the team) and 17 points, grabbing the most headlines of any Sharks player and likely earning this four year payday.
The Sharks still have a plethora of free agents to deal with, that's four taken care of thus far with Rob Blake retiring and going a different direction with "Nabby".