It was announced Tuesday that the Chicago Blackhawks had acquired Marc-Andre Fleury, a three-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender and winner of the Vezina Trophy, from Las Vegas Golden Knights.Mikael Hakkarainen, a minor league forward, was returned to the Golden Knights.Allan Walsh, Fleury's agent said that he hadn't been told of any possible deal by Vegas.Allan tweeted that Marc-Andre Fleury has not heard from anyone with the Vegas Golden Knights but that he had been traded to Chicago. "Marc-Andre will take time to talk with his family and evaluate his hockey prospects at this point."Sources claimed that Fleury could retire if he were traded from Vegas.Fleury, a 17 year NHL veteran, won the Vezina Trophy for Vegas in 2021. The Golden Knights' regular season record was 26-10-0, with Fleury scoring a career-best.928 save percentage. He also had a career-best 1.98 GAA.Stan Bowman, Blackhawks president/general manager, stated in a statement that the opportunity to acquire Vezina-winning goaltenders is rare. "Marc-Andre improves the goaltending of our Blackhawks, strengthens our defense, and will have a tremendous impact on the overall development."Having a goaltender such as this on our team will help us to retain our talent." We are thrilled to have him on our team. His reputation as a great teammate and future Hall of Famer is well-known.Robin Lehner and Fleury won the William Jennings Trophy for the goalie team with the highest save percentage. Fleury led Golden Knights to wins against the Minnesota Wild, Avalanche and Avalanche in the playoffs before losing to the Montreal Canadiens.This is the first time in 20-years that the reigning Vezina Winner was traded before the next season. Buffalo traded Dominik Haskek to Detroit during the first day free agency in 2001.Fleury, who was the Pittsburgh Penguins' Cup winner, was the Golden Knights' starting goaltender since the inception of the team and helped Vegas reach the Stanley Cup Final its first season.After the Golden Knights had brought in Lehner at 2020's trade deadline, it was an awkward time-share -- ironically in a deal with Chicago. Fleury was a good friend of Lehner off the ice. Even though Peter DeBoer changed between the goalies during the past season and half, Fleury and Lehner remained close friends.Fleury's agent posted a photohopped image of Fleury being stabbed with a sword bearing DeBoer’s name during the 2020 playoffs.Fleury, who has a $7 million annual contract, would immediately be the No. The Blackhawks' No. 1 goalie is Fleury, who is in the final year of a contract that pays him $7 million annually. Chicago parted with Corey Crawford, their long-time netminder, before last season. Instead, they turned to Collin Delia and Kevin Lankinen as well as Malcolm Subban.The Blackhawks are currently in rebuild mode, but they are speeding up their timeline. The team traded for Seth Jones, a defenseman, and reached an agreement on an eight-year contract that has an average annual value $9.5 million.Chicago finished sixth in the Central Division last season, missing the playoffs in three out of four seasons. Last season, the Blackhawks were without their captain Jonathan Toews because he was on personal leave due to medical reasons. However, Toews plans to return for the 2021-22 season.Three Stanley Cup stalwarts from Chicago have been traded to the Edmonton Oilers, Brent Seabrook (retirement), and Andrew Shaw (retirement).This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
