Change of plans for Fleury in Vegas?

Maybe things aren't over between Marc Andre Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights?

Ever since rumors emerged that the Golden Knights were planning on signing starting goaltender and pending unrestricted free agent Robin Lehner to a five year contract worth $5 million per season, it's been assumed that Fleury's time in the Nevada desert is coming to an end. Sure, Fleury came out publicly and announced that he's planning on playing out his contract and finishing his career with the Golden Knights, but he also acknowledged that things are out of his control. The NHL is a business after all and there's very little chance that the Golden Knights go into the 2020-21 season with $12+ million tied up in goaltenders. 

There's the potential that the Golden Knights could trade Fleury, but given the glut of goaltenders on the market this offseason they would be hard pressed to move him and not take back an anchor of a contract in exchange. Up until now the prevailing theory was that the Golden Knights would simply buy out Fleury, much like the New York Rangers did earlier today with Henrik Lundqvist. But, according to a report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, that's not an option.

Check out this little tidbit from Friedman's most recent 31 Thoughts column from Sportsnet:

I don’t believe Vegas desires to buy out Marc-Andre Fleury.

Back to the drawing board then?

Honestly though, I'm willing to bet that if the Golden Knights eat half of Fleury's $7 million contract that they'll find a suitor for him on the trade market without having to take back salary. In particular, how good would Fleury fit on the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames? I'm not certain the Golden Knights would want to trade within their division, but given the goalie market this offseason they may not have much of a choice.

Or, how about the Colorado Avalanche? The Avs were an absolute POWERHOUSE this past season, but the moment they had injury issues in goal they started to fall apart. They managed to make the best of things and put together a respectful Stanley Cup push, but imagine where they'd be if they had a veteran like Fleury available to them.