Fleury hoping to stay with Wild, could consider trade to Leafs, among others
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Marc-Andre Fleury is hoping to stay with the Minnesota Wild, but a trade has not been ruled out as the trade deadline looms.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports that Fleury could look at three contenders if the Wild turn into sellers over the coming weeks.
"What we’re hearing is Fleury had a four-hour meeting with his agent, Allan Walsh, this week where they went over March 8 and what could happen," LeBrun said Thursday on Insider Trading. "No. 1 [thing] is Fleury doesn’t want to go anywhere right now. He believes in the playoff chances of the Wild, who by the way, are on a bit of run. So, he doesn’t want to bail on the Wild while they’re still in the race.
"But as they get closer to March 8, if it’s clear that the Wild are out of the playoff hunt Fleury could potentially look at two or three teams.
"Among those options I’m told are the likes of the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, and the Maple Leafs. These may be obvious but, again, Fleury wants to stay loyal to the Wild if they can stay in the race."
The Wild currently sit five points back of the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The 39-year-old netminder has a 10-9-3 record this season with a .903 save percentage and a 2.83 goals-against average. He's signed at an expiring cap hit of $3.5 million.
Drafted first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2003, Fleury has a career 554-324-94 record with a .912 save percentage and 2.59 goals-against average split between the Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Chicago Blackhawks, and Wild.
His 554 regular-season wins place him second all-time in NHL history behind only New Jersey Devils legend Martin Brodeur (691).
Fleury is in the second season of a two-year, $7 million deal with an AAV of $3.5 million and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
The 6-foot-2 netminder helped the Penguins to three Stanley Cup victories in 2009, 2016, and 2017 and led the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in the team’s inaugural season in 2018.
Fleury won the Vezina Trophy and Jennings Trophy in 2021 after recording a 26-10-0 record with a .928 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average while a member of the Golden Knights.