BREAKING: Patrick Marleau Returns to the NHL

Marleau has returned to the team that made his a superstar, the San Jose Sharks.

Marleau will join the Sharks front office as a player development coach and a hockey operations adviser.

Fans are thrilled about the hiring.

Marleau spent 21 seasons of his 24 year playing career in San Jose, split over three different stints.

During his final season with the Sharks and in the NHL, Marleau broke Gordie Howe's long=standing record for games played in the NHL.

Marleau ended up playing 1,779 games in the NHL, a record that may never be broken.

In those 1,779 games, Marleau tallied 566 goals, 631 assists and 1,197 points in his record breaking 24 year career.

He never won a Stanley Cup, but was a part of a World Cup winner, A World Championship trophy and was a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist.

Marleau becomes the latest ex-player to join a former teams front office.

He follows Craig Conroy and Jarome Iginla in Calgary, and former Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson is rumored to join new owner Michael Andlauer's hockey operations department.

The Sharks and GM Mike Grier are in a deep rebuild, and are equipped with the 4th overall pick in what is considered to be one of the deepest drafts in recent memory.

Some players expected to be on the Sharks' radar are Matvei Michkov, Will Smith, and Ryan Leonard.

Maybe Marleau in his second career can make just as much of an impact in San Jose as his first tenure. It all starts at the NHL Draft on June 28th.