On Marc-Andre Fleury, agents, and cover in net in Pittsburgh and Vegas

With the Penguins eliminated this weekend and pretty quiet, one of their former players had an eventful weekend off the ice.

Agent-agent Marc-Andre Fleury, Allan Walsh, jumped on twitter on Saturday afternoon and posted a fairly clear message, following the name of coach Peter Doboer on the sword stuck by the goalkeeper.

Fleury has only started two of the Golden Knights’ nine playoff games, one in the robin round and then just one in the first round. And even that was only likely because of a back-to-back situation. Fleury is gone again and at least his agent will not stand for it.

Greg Wyshynski had a great task and perspective on the event:

Fleury had to talk about it Sunday, and the tweet was eventually removed.

“I just wanted to say that Allan has been my agent for a long time,” Fleury said. ‘We’re always very close. I think he is a man who always protects his players, cares and also cares about me. ”

The contract aspect angle Wysh talks about makes this interesting. Vegas invested heavily in Fleury, he received a three-year contract extension from 2019-21 that still has two seasons left. And it carries a Princess $ 7.0 million cap hit. Fleury turns 36 in November, which is before the next season will begin.

It is a strange position for the agent, goalkeeper and organization to be in. They win games, and do it behind Robin Lehner. Lehner himself is an upcoming free agent. And they turned to Lehner because he was a better option – Fleury had a .905% saving this season, and it was just a .891% saving in his last 25 regular season starts, no doubt a reason why Vegas tried a completed backup like Vokoun.

It’s interesting that Walsh is unpacking now. Fleury was previously appointed, in 2013 for Tomas Vokoun, in 2016 Matt Murray took over when Fleury was hurt and never looked back and then in 2017 Murray jumped into the fray for MAF, and the agent was at least silent on social media. So why now?

And for the organization, Lehner is a free agent. He has also not signed a multi-year contract since 2014 and fights addicts and has been public in a brave fight for mental health. Is that a man they will rally after? His play on the ice makes a strong case for that.

As for now, chug the Knights forward. With Fleury as a distraction, at least to the outside world. MAF said the right things now, but his agent’s post remained upright for almost a whole day. Message sent, and received. Everyone knows Fleury as a graceful teammate, but his agent put him in a bad place here.

The icing on the cake is to tie all of this to the Penguins’ unoccupied goal situation, with Murray’s status uncertain. But it seems almost impossible and unrealistic for Pittsburgh to take a 36-year-old fading goalie with a $ 7 million hit. The cap situation is a big enough problem as it is.

But when Vegas takes an extreme step toward buying Fleury – or, perhaps, daring to dream – an interest in Jack Johnson, I think “never say never” fits the bill.

For hockey, this is an enormous irony is that in 2020 the Pens Vegas sent a pick from the second round of the second round in 2017 in the expansion draft, to have piece for Fleury and herself that the Golden Knights would advance and MAF in the expansion take concept. That choice has not happened yet. It might happen after Fleury’s stint ends in Vegas.

Hell, it could happen after Murray’s stint in Pittsburgh ends! Sometimes, you just never know.

It seems crazy to think that Marc-Andre Fleury, after his big farewell, would be an option for the Pens again. Then again, it’s crazy that his agent just put Fleury’s coach’s name on a bloody sword, so who knows the hell more?

The only thing that is certain is that it could get more interesting as events unfold.