Rumor: MAF back to Pittsburgh?

[mrjiggyfly]

I can't believe Fleury will be on the roster. I was sure he had played his last game for the team given the way things went down. I thought that management would do whatever it took to get rid of him. I was wrong....again.

 

[Vegas07]

I think the whole point of keeping Fluery now is that there will be a goalie rotation with many back to backs in a condensed schedule. That’s not to say that anything could happen between now and training camp when someone like Chicago realize they have a set of pilons in goal or Pittsburgh wants some insurance for Jarry. Could also be a trade deadline deal for teams with an injured goalie.

Can you imagine if we had a backup like Subban? We would be forced to play him more often, or ride the starter into the ground.

 

[The Duck Knight]

We don't need a high a level back up like Fleury to make the playoffs though. Even with Dansk there is zero chance we miss without some catastrophic injuries. Our division is that bad. I just can't see any way you can justify having Fleury eating that much cap space thus weakening other parts of the roster past deadline day.

 

[Brazen331]

In all honesty, keeping him for now probably makes more sense than a buyout or sending a 1st or 2nd to someone while still retaining 50 percent salary.

If an injury does not occur that will allow us to deal him on more favorable terms then that last year will be less painful to buy out next year.

This does not negate that fact that Fleury, his contract and agent are hurting the team and making it weaker with his continued presence on it.

 

[willy702]

In all honesty, keeping him for now probably makes more sense than a buyout or sending a 1st or 2nd to someone while still retaining 50 percent salary.

If an injury does not occur that will allow us to deal him on more favorable terms then that last year will be less painful to buy out next year.

This does not negate that fact that Fleury, his contract and agent are hurting the team and making it weaker with his continued presence on it.

Damage already done though, I don't think it makes the team weaker any longer. It does though keep them from having the flexibility to make long-term moves, but if he really plays a semi-regular role then it offsets that damage somewhat. My guess is everyone is hoping for a win win here. MAF has to be focused and incentivized to play great to get other teams interested, the Knights have incentive to use him to get value out of him and keep tread on the Lehner tires, and the team overall knows there needs to be new leaders amongst themselves because they know he's going to leave at some point so now they can work that out. But seems like sometime before trade deadline a trade that works will come along and the price will be a lot more favorable than it is now.

 

[Vegas07]

We don't need a high a level back up like Fleury to make the playoffs though. Even with Dansk there is zero chance we miss without some catastrophic injuries. Our division is that bad. I just can't see any way you can justify having Fleury eating that much cap space thus weakening other parts of the roster past deadline day.

Have you seen the comments about Subban here when he lost a game or gave up a goal? People were so angry at him and acted like starting him was the worst thing ever. If you even suggested starting Subban to give an aging and overworked Fleury a rest, people would get pretty angry and act like you were nuts.

Of course it didn’t help that Subban rarely won a game when the team was struggling.

But if the team played like crap and Subban lost, the loss was 100% on Subban according to some of the comments here.

And people rarely ever said a negative thing about Fleury here when his backup was clearly worse.

 

[theslatcher]

 

[Brazen331]

Well this does not sound get at all, me verse them, as if he is no longer part of the team. VGK pretty much has to retain salary no matter what. I'm guessing it wasn't palatable to management to both retain and give assets. Maybe if he is traded during the year after an injury or to a playoff hopeful at the deadline they will just have to retain?

 

[Vegas07]

Yeah those comments sound bad. But I still prefer keeping him and reading comments like that over having a backup like Subban and reading the comments about him when he played.

Every time Subban started people acted like he was going to cost the team 10 points in the standings. He could make his first start in a month and people were still upset.

Giving Fleury all that money was stupid though.

 

[LadyStanley]

Marc-Andre Fleury relieved, glad Golden Knights didn’t trade him

Fleury interviewed by RJ. Relieved he's staying.