Goodrow Talks Marchment, Teasing Gallant, Funny Sharks Trade Story

It’s hard to believe that this is Barclay Goodrow’s first time at SAP Center since the San Jose Sharks traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020.

But COVID-19 – the 2019-20 regular season was cut short by the beginning of the pandemic, the Lightning played the 2020-21 regular season entirely within the Central Division to reduce the risk of catching COVID, and Goodrow missed the New York Rangers’ visit to San Jose last year because of, you guessed it, COVID – has delayed this reunion.

In between, Goodrow has won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning, signed a six-year, $21.85 million dollar pact in free agency with the Rangers, and got married.

But Goodrow is back tonight, as his Rangers visit the Sharks for the only time this season.

Goodrow played 268 regular season games with the Sharks and 124 games with the Barracuda and Worcester Sharks from 2014 to 2020.

A gang of reporters surrounded Goodrow after New York’s morning skate at SAP Center, and he talked about late Sharks scout Bryan Marchment’s advocacy for him, how two years spent with the San Jose Barracuda prepared him for the NHL, his Game Seven goal to beat the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2019 playoffs, and a funny Doug Wilson story from the day that he got traded.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. Special thanks to Max Miller for transcribing this interview.

Barclay Goodrow, on what it means to come back to SAP Center for the first time since he was traded:

Brings back a lot of memories. Been a while since I was traded from here, and with COVID and everything, I haven’t been back yet. So to set foot on the ice, a lot of vivid memories that pop into my mind. So it’s special and San Jose will always have a special place in my heart. It’s good to be back.

Goodrow, on who advocated for him in the San Jose Sharks organization when he signed as an overage player out of the North Bay Battalion in 2014:

Yeah, it was was Bryan Marchment. He was a big factor. We spent a lot of time together. He came to watch a lot of games. He was in my corner a lot. He had my back and kind of vouched [for] me with Doug [Wilson].

There were no other teams interested, no one wanted to sign me as an over-age player. I’ll always be pretty thankful to the Sharks organization for giving me a shot and just giving me a chance to live my dream.

Goodrow, on how tough it was to hear about Marchment passing at the 2022 NHL Draft:

Yeah, very hard.

Goodrow, on if it was a blow to his confidence after he got sent down to the AHL in his second pro year after spending most of his first pro year in 2014-15 with the San Jose Sharks:

I don’t think being sent down was a blow to my confidence. I think my confidence was already shot and being sent down was kind of the best thing for me at that time. Obviously, the Sharks have done a great job over the years of developing young players, players making the jump from from Worcester now San Jose to the Sharks.

So I used those years to just build my game back up and get it to a place where I thought I could be a contributor every night at the NHL level. I thought those years were pivotal in my development and getting me to where I am today.

Goodrow, on what he learned about what he had to do to succeed in the NHL in those two years with the San Jose Barracuda:

Towards the end of my first year and in the second year [with the Sharks], you come in each night trying not to make a mistake and try not to screw up, rather than going out there and doing something positive. You’re just trying not do anything negative.

Just becoming a more confident player was the biggest thing for me. Just trying to use my skill-set and work that I used to get me to that point and just continue to develop those areas and work on my skating and things like that, areas that I felt were kind of slacking a little bit.

Goodrow, on who helped him most in these developmental years:

Everyone in the Sharks organization was great. I was lucky enough to play for some great coaches here. So I think everyone had their hand in the pot, and it was lots of fun years that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Goodrow, on if he’s had to buy a drink for himself in San Jose since he scored the series-winning goal in Game Seven versus the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2019 playoffs:

Yeah, I think so. (laughs) But yeah, that’s definitely one memory that holds strong in my mind.

Goodrow, how strange it is to be playing for then-Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant with the Rangers:

I like to tease them a little bit. I have lots of good memories in this building. I’m not sure he could say the same thing.

Goodrow, on what he says to current Rangers Gallant, Ryan Reaves, and Ryan Carpenter, who played for the Golden Knights that season:

Their thing is, it wasn’t a five-minute major, so it’s hard to argue that point because I don’t think anyone thinks it was. But I think we all like the end result of that game.

Goodrow, on if he was surprised to get traded by the San Jose Sharks in 2020:

I was shocked. I was completely shocked and I wasn’t expecting it. It took a while to sink in, to be honest. When you’re a young player, you kind of just think you’re gonna be with that team for the rest of your career. You have no inclination that you’re going to be moved or be traded.

You see other guys with expiring contracts that you figure they’re on the way out. I remember Brenden Dillon that year was fully expected to be traded, because he was a good UFA.

I wasn’t expecting it. So it took a couple days to sink in. Then, obviously once I got to Tampa, I was very happy to be part of their team and to be given the chance to compete for the Cup.

Goodrow, on GM Doug Wilson looking for Patrick Marleau first thing that Trade Deadline day, but knocking on his hotel room door by accident instead:

It is true.

Goodrow, on what Wilson said to him the second time that the GM knocked on his door:

I mean, when he knocked on the door for the second time, I figured it was something about me. I knew a trade was coming at that point.

Goodrow, on some of the relationships that he built while with the San Jose Sharks:

You start somewhere, you’re such a young kid that you spend so much time with the other young guys. Me and [Couture] and [Tierney], we’d be together every day, so those are friendships that last a lifetime. I see Cooch the odd time in the summer. So that’s good. It’s nice to be able to see Meier, Hertl, guys like that.

Goodrow, now a two-time Stanley Cup champion, on who taught him how to win in San Jose:

I mean, there’s so many guys. I came here in 2014, you look around the room, there’s so many good leaders, so many good veteran players.

Jumbo, Pavs, they improved me a lot as a player, even just watching their day-to-day preparation, their leadership. Obviously, they’ve been doing it at a high level for so long so to be able to come in as a young player and kind of just witness it firsthand, you know the work they put into their craft each and every day. That was big for me.

I learned a lot from guys like Cooch and Hertl, not much older than me, but some very good players.

Goodrow, on the difference between the 2019 San Jose Sharks, who lost in the Western Conference Finals to the St. Louis Blues, and his two Tampa Bay Lightning championship squads:

I think the line between winning and losing once you get to the third, fourth round of the playoffs is so slim.

Obviously, in 2019, we had such a good team. Injuries got to us starting with Pavs in the first round and then other guys went down as the playoffs went on, so I think that kind of hurt us a little bit.

But teams here, we’ve been so close. Weren’t able to get over the hump. I couldn’t tell you the answer to that. The teams here were really good and there’s so many good guys that made it fun to be a part of.