NHL trade rumors: 3 teams who should trade for Marc-Andre Fleury
According to the latest NHL trade rumors, Marc-Andre Fleury’s days with the Vegas Golden Knights are likely over. Which teams should trade for him?
This offseason will have a pretty fascinating goaltending market. Not only are guys like Braden Holtby, Anton Khudobin, and Cam Talbot hitting free agency, the trade market has some pretty fascinating names on it as well. According to the latest NHL trade rumors, that list includes Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights.
According to Jesse Granger of The Athletic, the Golden Knights are expected to agree to a five-year deal with goaltender Robin Lehner.
They acquired him at the trade deadline and he was an immediate fit in Sin City. Assuming they sign Lehner, Marc-Andre Fleury is most likely getting traded or bought out.
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Fleury has two years left on his contract. With a $7 million cap hit, trading him likely won’t be easy. But the Golden Knights need to clear some cap space and Fleury’s a surplus player at this point, especially if the Golden Knights re-sign Lehner. It might make sense for the Montreal Canadiens to spend over $11 million on their goaltending, but it doesn’t for Vegas, given their cap situation.
With many teams losing quite a bit of money thanks to the pandemic, trading Fleury’s going to be even more difficult than usual. However, these three teams should give Vegas a call.
3. Vancouver Canucks
First of all, for this to work, Fleury would have to agree to be traded to the Vancouver Canucks if the Sens are on his 10-team no-trade list. Secondly, many times, teams prefer not to trade players like Fleury to a division rival. But I believe the Golden Knights will trade him to Vancouver if that’s where he wants to go.
Vegas would have to retain about 50% of Fleury’s cap hit. $7 million is a bit rich for Vancouver, but $3.5 million is far more palatable. He’d be a perfect backup for Thatcher Demko, who will likely be entering the 2020-21 season as the Canucks starting goalie. The Canucks could probably find a cheaper option in free agency, but they’re not finding one with Fleury’s track record. They’re a bit of an outside the box fit, but I could see it happening.
2. Calgary Flames
Cam Talbot is an unrestricted free agent on Oct. 9. If the Calgary Flames do not re-sign him, they’ll have to find a new goaltender to pair with David Rittich. The goalie market will have a number of options, but the Flames should at least see how much it would take to trade for Marc-Andre Fleury.
Much like the Canucks, the Flames would probably only be interested in Fleury if his cap hit is only $3.5 million. Even that might be a little rich for them. But the fit is certainly there. The Flames need someone who’s used to working in a tandem and Fleury has some experience there.
Fleury would probably like to play for the Flames. After all, he reportedly would have waived his no-trade clause for Calgary back in 2017 before he wound up being picked by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft.
The Flames could probably use Fleury too. They’re looking to make some changes after another disappoint postseason exit. One of those changes could be in goal. While Talbot was impressive for the Flames during the regular season and play-in round, he faltered against the Dallas Stars in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
1. Carolina Hurricanes
Fleury’s likely hoping for the opportunity to be a starting goalie. He would also probably like to play for a Stanley Cup contender. If that’s the case, the Carolina Hurricanes are probably the best fit for Fleury. They need to upgrade their goaltending after losing to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season.
Sara Civian of The Athletic points out that Fleury could make a great deal of sense for Carolina.
The Canes might want to look into what a trade for Marc-Andre Fleury would cost. A short-term Fleury/Mrazek tandem could work, no?
However, upgrading their goaltending could be complicated. Both Petr Mrazek and James Reimer have one year left on their deals. One of them is going to have to be traded to accommodate an upgrade. My guess would be Reimer, but Mrazek could be traded as well.
Because the Hurricanes are so close to the cap ceiling, the Golden Knights would have to retain 50% of Fleury’s cap hit. The flat salary cap ceiling is painful for a lot of teams, and yes, that includes Vegas, who would like to clear Fleury’s entire contract. But that’s probably not possible.
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Finally, let’s consider how freaking awesome Fleury’s personality would be on a team known as a “Bunch of jerks”. Fleury has a playful personality and loves to pull pranks. He’d be the perfect ringleader for Carolina’s motley crew.