Three teams linked to a potential trade involving Marc-Andre Fleury.

3 very different teams in the mix for Fleury.

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Published 3 years ago
Three teams linked to a potential trade involving Marc-Andre Fleury.
Dom Gagne/CSM/Zuma

The writing is unquestionably on the wall for Marc Andre Fleury in Las Vegas.

Over the weekend the Las Vegas Golden Knights officially announced that they had agreed to terms on a new 5 year deal with goaltender Robin Lehner, a deal worth $25 million. It was merely a formality however given that the deal had been rumored for weeks at that point, but it did signal to many that Fleury had officially played his last game as a member of the Golden Knights. Fleury's contract currently comes in at a cap hit of $7 million and it is extremely unlikely that the Golden Knights intend to move forward with $12 million in salary between the pipes. Add to that the controversy stirred up by Fleury's agent Allan Walsh during the Stanley Cup playoffs and I honestly don't see any scenario in which Fleury is welcomed back by the Golden Knights next season.

The question now is what will the Golden Knights do with Fleury's contract? A buyout would be possible but several insiders have already indicated that the Golden Knights are not open to going down that route, so that only leaves the possibility of a trade. On Saturday NHL insider David Pagnotta revealed that at least 3 teams have expressed interest in Fleury, revealing that those teams are the Colorado Avalanche, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Ottawa Senators. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs scenario makes the least amount of sense to me given their cap situation, however if the Golden Knights were to retain 50% of Fleury's salary, the maximum allowed under the CBA, getting Fleury at a cap hit of $3.5 million could realistically be feasible for that organization. Pagnotta however reports that the Golden Knights are not open to that idea, and in fact have even pursued the possibility of bringing a third team into the trade specifically for the purpose of salary retention if things get to that point. For this reason, as well as the fact that they would have to move current goaltender Frederik Andersen before even considering this move, I think the Leafs are the least likely of the 3 to pull the trigger.

The Avalanche could be looking for a veteran presence in net to push, and possibly even compete with, goaltender Philipp Grubauer. The Avalanche have the cap space to make this move right now, however I suspect that the long term ramifications of this move might also lead them to demanding salary retention on the part of the Golden Knights. Fleury has 2 years left on this current deal, and that second year will come at a time that players like Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar will need new deals, a headache I don't think Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic is prepared to deal with.

The name on this list that actually makes the most sense to me is the Ottawa Senators, and possibly even as the third team involved in salary retention. Although the Senators have plenty of players headed to both unrestricted free agency and restricted free agency, they have a staggering $43 million in available cap space for this upcoming season. The Senators would have the ability to take on the full brunt of Fleury's contract, and it wouldn't even be a terrible fit for them with goaltender Craig Anderson moving on and questions about the health of Anders Nilsson moving forward. This cap space would also make the Senators the perfect fit for a 3-way trade, one that would closely resemble the Leafs role in the Robin Lehner trade prior to the deadline. In that trade Lehner was traded from Chicago to Las Vegas, however the Leafs retained a portion of his salary and were awarded a 5th round pick for doing so. 

I'll leave you with one last team that I think could be a dark horse here and that is the Detroit Red Wings. I have no information at all to suggest this is the case so this is pure speculation on my part, however Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has already shown a willingness to weaponize his cap space in this offseason with the Marc Staal trade. The Red Wings are moving on from Jimmy Howard so this wouldn't even be the worse fit in the world, and Yzerman could continue to stockpile assets as he looks to rebuild the franchise he once led to great success.

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