The Penguins Might Have Just Won the Stanley Cup For a Consecutive Time Last Night, But the Team is Already Back to Business. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury Has Reportedly Agreed to Waive His No-Movement Clause in Anticipation of the NHL Expansion Draft.
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury raised the Stanley Cup over his head last night, but today he has reportedly agreed to waive his no-movement clause ahead of the NHL’s expansion draft.
This will make Fleury eligible for selection by the Vegas Golden Knights when the expansion draft takes place on June 21. This movement also promises the future of Pittsburgh goal-tending to young goalie Matt Murray.
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Fleury to Vegas?
Just because Fleury has waived his NMC, there is no guarantee that Vegas will select him when the time comes. There will be a lot of goaltenders available for grabs when Vegas goes to make their picks, so Vegas might not select Fleury as a new Golden Knight.
On the contrary, there is no such thing as ‘too much goalie talent.’ Goaltending is a hard hole to fill and the Golden Knights will benefit greatly from reliable goalie talent. This means that selecting Fleury in the draft will do them some good.
The Golden Knights will have a variety of goaltenders to select but will end up settling on the best they can come by. At the bare minimum, Vegas must select three goalies. Selecting the right three is of vital importance and Vegas won’t take the task lightly.
Other goalies, like Antti Raanta and Phillipp Grubauer, that are very capable and not as used to a starting role would be the perfect compliment to Fleury’s experience. Fleury has been a reliable starting goaltender for a long time and it would benefit the Golden Knights to take on a goalie as experienced and skilled as he is.
With an experienced reliable goalie like Fleury, Vegas could then afford to put some trust in big talents that aren’t as used to the same playing time, like Raanta and Grubauer. Imagine the depth they’d have in goal then.
To the Draft
The expansion draft is coming. In fact, the protection lists will be available for NHL fans shortly. The official Golden Knights’ roster will be announced on June 21 when the expansion draft will take place at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
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It is unknown whether or not Vegas will select Fleury to join their historical roster, but we do know that the Stanley Cup winning goaltender will be available for selection. After all, the Penguins have a solid roster and Vegas might be interested in another player eligible for selection. Only time will tell.