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Fleury ponders retirement after trade to Blackhawks
Wednesday, July 28, 2021

(UNDATED) – The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired reigning Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights. The announcement was made Tuesday. The Golden Knights received minor league forward Mikael Hakkarainen in return. Fleury, however, is contemplating his future after his agent, Allan Walsh, said the three-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender was caught off guard by the trade, with sources saying he found out about it via social media. In a Twitter post, Walsh said the Marc-Andre will take time to discuss this situation with his family and seriously evaluate his hockey future at this time. Sources had said there was chatter that the 36 year old Fleury might retire if he was traded from Vegas. According to sources, Blackhawks president and general manager Stan Bowman and Fleury had a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon. Bowman and the Blackhawks want to respect Fleury and give him the space and time he needs to make a decision, sources said. In a statement Tuesday night, Fleury thanked "all the amazing fans in Vegas and my teammates for four incredible years together." Fleury, a 17 year NHL veteran, won his first Vezina Trophy in 2021 with Vegas. He went 26-10-0 with a career-best .928 save percentage and 1.98 GAA as the Golden Knights had the league's second-best record in the regular season, trailing only the Colorado Avalanche. Fleury and Robin Lehner won the William Jennings Trophy as the goalie tandem with the best save percentage this past season. Fleury, who won all three of his Cup titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins, had been the Golden Knights' starting goaltender from the team's inception and led Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final in its first season. Fleury immediately would become the No. 1 goalie for the Blackhawks. Chicago parted ways with longtime netminder Corey Crawford ahead of last season and instead turned to a trio of youngsters: Collin Delia, Kevin Lankinen and Malcolm Subban.

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