How Patrick Marleau leaving Sharks before helps Penguins transition

Patrick Marleau had already done the emotional goodbye before he left the Sharks at the trade deadline.

Marleau signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2017, signing a three-year contract with the "Original Six" club to leave San Jose, the only NHL city he'd ever known. When he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of this year's trade deadline, Marleau found adjusting to a new locker room much easier the second time around.

"I think what it really helped was with that anxiety or nervousness when you first come to a new team," Marleau told The Athletic's Rob Rossi on Wednesday. "You try to get over that really quickly. You know it’s eventually gonna work out. So, I think…