If Marc-Andre Fleury‘s tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins is coming to an end, you can bet the former first-overall pick will have some input.
Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford spoke of respecting his goaltender’s wishes as he approaches the March 1 trade deadline.
“The one thing I’ll have to watch for and keep the lines of communication open with the player is, is he OK with the situation that he’s in?” Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Going back to last year and to this point in time, he has handled it like a true pro. No issues at all.
“It may play out that we may be able to go right through having two top goalies on our team. We just have to keep an eye on what direction Marc wants to go here in the next few weeks.”
Fleury has seen his playing time dwindle ever since the emergence of rookie Matt Murray towards the end of last season.
Murray took over the Pittsburgh crease, relegating Fleury to backup duty while the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.
Rutherford will have to make a decision regarding his two netminders, both of whom are capable of starting at the NHL level. Fleury’s signed for two more seasons after this one at $5.75 million, while Murray’s three-year, $11.25-million extension begins in 2017-18.
The Penguins can only protect one from Vegas at this off-season’s expansion draft. Nevertheless, Rutherford doesn’t appear desperate to give up his team’s depth at such a crucial position any time soon.
“Our priority here is to win,” he said. “My preference hasn’t changed. Go back to training camp. My preference is to keep both these goalies here this year.”
If Pittsburgh doesn’t want to lose a goalie, it can always make a trade with Vegas in exchange for Golden Knights GM George McPhee not selecting Fleury at the expansion draft.
There are likely to be several teams with interest in acquiring a capable starter, should the Penguins decide to move on from the winningest goaltender in franchise history.
The 32-year-old’s numbers haven’t been great this season, but Fleury had a .920-plus save percentage in each of the two previous seasons.
His agent Allan Walsh gave the Tribune no comment on which direction Fleury wanted to go from here.
If he does have a preference to leave however, it appears as though his GM would be willing to listen.
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