According to multiple reports, the Vegas Golden Knights traded goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are sending minor leaguer Mikkael Mikael Hakkarainen back to the Golden Knights.
This is pending a trade call.
Vegas will not retain any of Marc-Andre Fleury’s salary ($7 million, through this season). Only minor leaguer Mikkael Mikael Hakkarainen is going to VGK.
Clears the path for Robin Lehner to be starter in Vegas. 🌸is the No. 1 in Chicago. https://t.co/4g63eh143R
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) July 27, 2021
Marc-Andre Fleury Traded By Vegas
The Vegas Golden Knights are moving on from goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. There had been talks about Fleury moving on from the Golden Knights this past offseason as well as last offseason. Chicago is taking on the entire $7 million cap hit. Fleury had the best season of his career with the Golden Knights winning the Vezina Trophy. In 36 regular-season games with the Golden Knights this past season, he had a record of 26-10 recording a 1.98 goals-against average and .928 save percentage. For his career, Fleury’s goals-against average was 2.55 and his save percentage was .913.
He was good for the Golden Knights in the playoffs as well. He led the team all the way to the Stanley Cup Semifinals, where they lost in six games to the Montreal Canadiens. However, Fleury did not play two of the final three games for the Golden Knights as Robin Lehner was the starter.
Fleury was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins number one in 2003. He led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup in 2009 and was a factor when the team won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Due to his high salary, the Penguins had to expose him for the Vegas expansions draft. The Penguins traded Fleury to Vegas where he revitalized his career. He took the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their very first season losing to the Washington Capitals.
What Does This Mean Going Forward
For Fleury, he is going to take time to think about his hockey career. There is talk he will retire and not report to the Blackhawks. If that is the case then Chicago will not have that salary cap on their books this season. However, if he plays, Chicago has found themselves a number one goalie as they try to make another run at a Stanley Cup. It all depends on Fleury.
As for the Golden Knights, Robin Lehner is the number one goalie for Peter DeBoer. Ever since signing that new contract last off-season, DeBoer has gone with Lehner over Fleury. So the writing has been on the wall for a while now. Vegas was in some salary cap trouble and needed to clear cap space to fit Alec Martinez’s new contract on the books, so somebody had to go. It is no surprise it was Fleury.
Only time will tell what Fleury decides to do.
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