Fleury traded to Blackhawks by Golden Knights

Vegas received forward prospect Mikael Hakkarainen.

Fleury was voted the winner of the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL this season after the 36-year-old went 26-10-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and six shutouts in 36 games. He went 9-7 with a 2.04 GAA and .918 save percentage in 16 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to help the Golden Knights reach the NHL Semifinals, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in six games.

“The opportunity to acquire a Vezina-winning goaltender is rare and one you cannot pass up,” Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said. “Marc-Andre improves our goaltending, strengthens our team defense and will have a huge impact on the overall development of the Blackhawks. Having a goaltender like this on our team will put the talent we currently have on our roster in a better position to achieve sustained success. The entire organization is thrilled to have this future Hall of Famer on our team and his reputation of being an excellent teammate on and off the ice precedes him.”

Fleury has one season remaining on a three-year, $21 million contract extension ($7 million annual average value) he signed July 13, 2018, and said after the season ended he hoped to remain in Vegas.

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“I haven’t given much thought to the future, but it’s always been in my heart to stick around and finish up here,” Fleury said.

Fleury’s agent, Allan Walsh, said Tuesday that the goalie, who ranks third in NHL history in wins (492), was not made aware of the trade, and could be considering retirement.

“While Marc-Andre Fleury still hasn’t heard from anybody with the Vegas Golden Knights, he has apparently been traded to Chicago,” Walsh tweeted. “Marc-Andre will be taking time to discuss his situation with his family and seriously evaluate his hockey future at this time.”

Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said the team had been in contact with Fleury about a potential trade.

“These were conversations that began between Marc-Andre and myself during our exit meetings on June 29,” he said. “At that time, I told Marc that I couldn’t say for sure what we would do with our goaltending during the upcoming year. … I wanted him to be fully aware of any discussions with teams. I wanted him to be completely comfortable if he heard rumors or saw things out there that made him uncomfortable or made him curious that he certainly should feel free to call me.

“We spoke many times from that day up until as recently as this Saturday that I spoke to his representatives for the final time. On July 12, we spoke three times, I made Flower aware of Chicago’s interest. We had an open discussion about that and any other team I spoke to or any team that contacted me from the time I met with Marc-Andre on June 29.”

“With respect to this morning, rumors hit Twitter before I spoke to Marc-Andre Fleury. We had not in fact completed the trade call. … There was many discussions throughout the time leading up until the day. … I think communication throughout this process was very good. I told Marc at the exit meeting that I want to look him in the eye and tell him myself and make him understand and be aware that he’s been treated professionally throughout this timeframe.”

Robin Lehner, who was acquired in a trade with the Blackhawks on Feb. 24, 2020, signed a five-year, $25 million contract ($5 million AAV) Oct. 3. He was 13-4-2 with a 2.29 GAA and .913 she percentage in 19 games, and started three playoff games (1-2, 3.62 GAA, .887 save percentage).

Fleury and Lehner won the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the NHL this season; Vegas allowed an NHL-low 124.

“Our relationship grew over the season,” Fleury said. “We got along very good. As goalies, that’s something you strive for is winning games, but also not giving up too much. I think both of us, we accomplished that this year.”

Fleury was chosen by the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, and in four seasons with Vegas was 117-60-14 with a 2.41 GAA, .917 save percentage and 23 shutouts in 192 regular-season games (191 starts), and 28-19 with a 2.25 GAA, .920 save percentage and six shutouts in 47 playoff games. He helped the Golden Knights reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2017-18, where they lost the Washington Capitals in five games, and to the Western Conference Final in 2019-20, where they lost to the Dallas Stars in five games.

“I think as you all would know we’ve been fortunate,” McCrimmon said. “We had two great goaltenders with Marc-Andre and Robin Lehner. I give both players a lot of credit. We made the decision to go with that tandem based on a number of factors. We definitely benefitted from both of those goaltenders.

“When you look forward to this year, I think that same scenario would’ve been a lot harder to manage. These are two goalies that are starters and I don’t know there would’ve been the same appetite to do it the same way. Neither goaltender to their credit expressed any concern or any issue. It’s just my own observations.”

Selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NHL Draft, Fleury trails Martin Brodeur (691) and Patrick Roy (551) in wins. He won the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017) during his 13 seasons with Pittsburgh. Fleury is 492-276-80 with two ties, a 2.55 GAA, .913 save percentage and 67 shutouts in 883 regular-season games (858 starts) and 90-70 with a 2.53 GAA, .912 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 162 playoff games (160 starts).

“I’d like to thank Marc-Andre Fleury for his time in Vegas,” McCrimmon said. “Incredible moments we shared with him in the organization. He was the most popular player I’ve ever seen in sports. He was the face of the franchise. The passion that he has for the game as a teammate and a player connected to the fanbase. I want to recognize his great accomplishments, his time here. He’s had a tremendous impact on our city. So I know for a lot of people this is a day filled with sadness. Certainly I share all those same emotions as you do, and I feel that I’m responsible to do everything I can to put the best team on the ice.”

Chicago used three goalies this season who had previouslyvcombined for 87 games of NHL experience. Rookie Kevin Lankinen played 37 games and was 17-14-5 with a 3.01 GAA, .909 save percentage and two shutouts; Malcolm Subban was 6-8-1 with a 3.20 GAA, .900 save percentage and two shutouts in 16 games (14 starts); and Collin Delia was 1-3-1 with a 3.59 GAA and .902 save percentage in six games (five starts). Lankinen, Subban and Delia can each become an unrestricted free agent after next season.

Hakkarainen had one assist in 12 games this season with Rockford of the American Hockey League and Indy of the ECHL. Selected by Chicago in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, the 23-year-old has yet to make his NHL debut.