Having been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference final on Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights now turn their attention to a new top priority—solving their current goaltender crisis.
Having performed admirably throughout the season, Robin Lehner may become an unrestricted free agent after the season ends on October 9th. What would make the loss of Lehner even more devastating is that he took over the role of primary goaltender from Marc-Andre Fleury.
While Fleury is still under contract with the Golden Knights for another two years, his age is now an issue. Fleury turns 36 on November 28, thereby bringing his longevity into question.
Age aside and there is another potential issue that the Golden Knights may have with Fleury, which is his distaste with the franchise. While nothing concrete has come to light, Fleury’s agent, Allan Walsh, tweeted a picture of a sword, bearing the name of Vegas coach Peter DeBoer, going into Fleury’s back. The post was taken down the following day at Fleury’s request.
According to Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon, there is no strain in the relationship between himself and Fleury, dismissing the tweet as a nonissue. “I don’t think it affected anything in our dressing room. I don’t think it affected performance, which obviously was the most important thing.”
McCrimmon also confirmed that re-signing Lehner is currently a top priority for the franchise.
