Did Marc-Andre Fleury Vezina Win Cement Him Staying With VGK?
The Vegas Golden Knights face quite the conundrum with Marc-Andre Fleury. Hes been the face of the franchise since he arrived and is no doubt one of the most popular players Ive ever seen on any team. Fans love him, teammates love him, broadcasters love him. Hes just one of those guys you want to talk to because hes always smiling. Fleury has also expressed his desire to stay in Vegas and finish out his career. Reading between the lines, it almost sounds like he is thinking about retiring after his current contract is up, or if he does decide to play on, doing it on a far more team-friendly deal. Its hard to know right now what kind of impact actually winning the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in the NHL will have on him. It might give him more of a sense of finality. It might light the fire to compete even longer. Either way, hes still going to carry a $7M cap hit next season and thats tough for the Vegas Golden Knights to deal with. What will be interesting to find out is the ripple effect of him winning the Vezina across the rest of the league. I feel that GM Kelly McCrimmon has approached the Golden Knights roster from a mostly practical standpoint. Hes tried to wring every last cent out of the salary cap but Vegas has had to pay the piper a few times during the regular season when it comes to the lineup. Having that much free cap space would go a long way towards helping the team improve the power play and get a top center, both of which are areas of need. Those players arent cheap. On its face, making a trade for one year of Marc-Andre Fleury would help very few teams. Hes only getting older and you know theres a decline coming soon. Its uncertain as to when  some guys just stay relevant longer than others. But hes already pushing Father Time beyond the normal limits. So perhaps the return from another win-now team is minimalized, and would likely be much younger. A top draft pick would be lower down the ladder. A prospect might be the best return but thats always uncertain as well. Vegas certainly isnt in the position to eat a bad contract in return, and while retaining salary is always on the table, it still doesnt quite accomplish the goal of moving Fleury: major cap space. Yet you have to feel that his value has indeed increased with the award, and it shows other teams that not only is he capable of playing at a high level, but hes also capable of being the best goaltender in the league. Thats not a player you can acquire any day of the week. To be clear, theres not much other reason to move him. But cap space is the most important currency in the game. Its what allows some teams to make deals that would otherwise seem impossible from a hockey standpoint, or prevents teams from making deals they would otherwise love to make. And right now the only thing that seems to be holding the Vegas Golden Knights back from a Stanley Cup is cap space. The question remains if its worth it to move your Vezina-winning goaltender who just saved your bacon last season to accomplish that. These are all questions the Vegas Golden Knights have to answer in exploring a trade. Thats if they could even move Marc-Andre Fleury at all.