Stanley Cup Champion Marc-Andre Fleury is now a member of the Las Vegas Golden Knights and, while that may now seem like it was the plan all along from Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, it almost never came to pass.
During the National Hockey League meetings in New York, the veteran goaltender admitted that he was almost traded by Rutherford to a Canadian team, the Calgary Flames, and furthermore he indicated that he would in fact have waived his no-trade for that deal.
“I think so,” said Fleury as per Sportsnet's Eric Francis.
“I think Calgary is a great town and a great hockey team too. I think they’ll be very good again this year. But here I am.”
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According to Fleury Rutherford crafted a trade that would have sent him to Calgary at the trade deadline, however for whatever reason that trade never materialized, and based on what Fleury is saying we have to believe that it was Calgary who opted not to pull the trigger.
