It’s not every day that a goalie can compile a 35-17-4 record to go along with a 2.29 goals against average and a .921 save percentage and face the risk of losing his starting job. For Marc-Andre Fleury, however, this has been the case all offseason after the emergence of 22-year-old Matt Murray who stepped in during the 2016 playoffs and helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup. Despite this, Fleury’s hope is to remain with Penguins; the team that drafted him first overall in 2003.
Penguins' Fleury not looking for trade https://t.co/cY1ADxrLAQ pic.twitter.com/fMBB1phIN7
— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) September 16, 2016
According to Jonathan Bombulie of Triblive.com, Fleury shot down a trade request emphatically.
No. No. No. I’ve always said this is like my home,
I wish I could play here my whole career. I try to do my best for the team and for the organization. – Marc-Andre Fleury
Fleury, at this point in his career, would obviously prefer to start as many games as possible to give his team the best shot at winning. The veteran goaltender is aware that he’s not the only member of the team dealing with this dilemma either, however, as Murray is also going through the same thing
“I’m sure Matty is in the same boat, too,” said Fleury “We’d like to play games. But if that’s what it is, that’s what it is. You deal with it and try my best when I’m in there.”
With the upcoming expansion draft restricting teams to protecting only one goaltender, the Penguins will have to decide quickly if they want to keep both goaltenders for the season, or trade one of their options before it’s too late. Fleury is a very good goaltender, but Murray has also proven to be a solid choice in net as well, and at nine years younger, it would be hard to move the young-gun.