Blackhawks acquire Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury

Hawks Insider

Blackhawks acquire Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury

For the second time in five days, the Blackhawks have made a splash.

After acquiring four-time All-Star defenseman Seth Jones on NHL Draft day, the Blackhawks have reportedly landed Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for prospect Mikael Hakkarainen. There is no salary retention involved.

Fleury has one year left on his contract that carries a $7 million cap hit. He has a modified no-trade clause, which includes a 10-team no-trade list, and Chicago was not on that list.

Fleury, 36, went 26-10-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and six shutouts this season with the Golden Knights. He also went 9-7 with a 2.04 goals-against average, .918 save percentage and one shutout in 16 postseason contests.

There’s a chance, however, that Fleury could contemplate retirement after being traded out of Vegas, where he would have preferred to finish his NHL career. His agent Allan Walsh tweeted after the trade broke that Fleury “will be taking time to discuss his situation with his family and seriously evaluate his hockey future at this time.”

If Fleury chooses to retire, the Blackhawks will face no cap penalty and his $7 million cap hit will be completely removed from the books. It’s a low-risk acquisition by the Blackhawks, although it will be interesting to see how this story develops moving forward.

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