Three-time Stanley Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury has been traded by the Chicago Blackhawks to the Minnesota Wild on Monday, Sportsnet can confirm.
The Wild are sending a draft pick to Chicago.
The reigning Vezina and Jennings Trophy recipient, and the third-winningest goaltender in NHL history, Fleury has been the subject of trade rumours for much of the season, as the Blackhawks struggled.
In addition to the modified no-move clause in his contract, as Emily Sadler wrote earlier, an agreement with the Blackhawks was put in place upon Fleury’s arrival in Chicago over the off-season. After arriving in Chicago, then-GM Stan Bowman agreed Fleury wouldn’t be moved without his approval, and new GM Kyle Davidson made it clear early in March he’d keep that promise.
“If I move, I would love a chance to win,” Marc-Andre Fleury, 37, told reporters last month. “That’s what I play for, and that’s what I love. But it’s still a big ‘if’ at this point.”
Fleury’s 2021-22 cap hit is $7 million.
Teams rumoured to be interested in obtaining Fleury included the Capitals and the Maple Leafs.
Fleury surrendered five goals on 31 shots in Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. (The sixth goal was an empty-netter.) On one of the goals, Fleury lost his catching glove and at one point lunged at the puck with his bare hand but missed, surely a startling moment for any GM looking to trade for him.
