The 2024-25 season may not have been the last with ’Flower’ after all. Yesterday evening, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that a few teams have reached out to netminder Marc-André Fleury to gauge his interest in returning for a 22nd season.
As LeBrun noted in his report, it’s relatively unsurprising that teams have reached out to Fleury. The league averaged a .899 SV% in 2022-23 and a .898 SV% in 2023-24, respectively, before dropping to a .893 SV% last year and maintaining the same level this season. Given that he averaged a .902 SV% from his age 37 to age 40 season with the Minnesota Wild in 123 games, Fleury could theoretically provide stability for a team between the pipes.
Still, as much as a few teams may want Fleury on their roster for the final half of the regular season, there’s no guarantee the 41-year-old netminder will reciprocate that interest. If Fleury does return, it will almost assuredly be for a perceived contender for a chance to win the fourth Stanley Cup ring of his legendary career.
However, this season, three out of four teams from last year’s Conference Finals have a SV% below .890 through the holiday season, giving Fleury a few options to pick from.
The Carolina Hurricanes make some sense, but already have three netminders on the roster, meaning one would have to go, at least. The team has relied on rookie netminder Brandon Bussi for much of the season, with inspiring results, but may want an additional veteran presence. Technically, the team already has one in Frederik Andersen, but the 36-year-old netminder hasn’t played since early December and has a .875 SV% through 14 starts this season.
Meanwhile, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, who are 27th in the league with a .882 SV%, may be of interest to Fleury if he wants to return. Unfortunately, most of that average hangs on starter Sergei Bobrovsky, who has a .888 SV% through 27 games played this season. There’s little chance of Fleury usurping Bobrovsky in the starter’s crease, but he may provide more stability than Daniil Tarasov as a backup.
Lastly, the Edmonton Oilers have been the most infamous team in the league this year when it comes to goaltending struggles. Edmonton is last in the league with a .875 mark, but has seemingly addressed a portion of this issue by acquiring Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins a few weeks ago. Still, given that Jarry is out for the next few weeks, and the Oilers have received putrid results from Calvin Pickard and Connor Ingram, Fleury could round out the goaltending room.
Additionally, the General Manager of the Oilers, Stan Bowman, has a brief history with Fleury dating back to his time with the Chicago Blackhawks. In one of his last moves with the organization, Bowman acquired Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights in the summer of 2021 before resigning from his post with the Blackhawks three months later.
There’s a reason he signed with the Pens for one last game. I applaud the teams reaching out but he’s not coming back.
LOL!
Stupid.