Marc-Andre Fleury would have likely waived his no-trade clause to go to Calgary last season, according to Eric Francis of Sportsnet who caught up with him in New York. Fleury was very cognizant of all the trade rumors surrounding him at the deadline, and knew Calgary was a potential landing spot.
I heard all the rumors – Winnipeg, Calgary and Vegas.
I didn’t know what was going to happen. At the trade deadline I couldn’t sleep that night, wondering, ‘where am I going?’
Fleury eventually ended up in Vegas with the Golden Knights, where he’s primed to be a starting goalie again and one of the early faces of the league’s 31st franchise. He’ll hope to improve on the .909 save percentage he put up last year, his lowest since the 2009-10 season.
- Fleury’s old teammate Kris Letang has been cleared to rejoin the team at practice after neck surgery in the spring. Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Letang will be on the ice on Friday when Penguins’ camp starts. Obviously the team will still be taking it slow with him, but it’s a big step to getting Letang ready for the start of the regular season. The Penguins found success even without him in the playoffs, but will be relying on him quite a bit again this season.
- The Athletic’s Corey Pronman released the final 50 of his Top 100 Under 25 list that was started yesterday, and—surprise, surprise—Connor McDavid takes the top spot. The rest of the list is a great read, with under-appreciated players like Brayden Point and Jaccob Slavin both making appearances. The sheer number of star players listed is incredible, and continues to show how the NHL is skewing younger and younger in recent years.