Golden Knights trade Marc-Andre Fleury to Blackhawks

Marc-Andre Fleury Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Golden Knights trade Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury to Blackhawks

By Chelena Goldman | Last updated 7/27/21

Hockey Twitter exploded on Tuesday morning with the news the Vegas Golden Knights plan to trade Vezina Trophy-winning netminder Marc-Andre Fleury to the Chicago Blackhawks for minor-league player Mikael Hakkarainen.

Naturally, a million questions surfaced within just a couple of minutes: What is Chicago thinking? What is Vegas thinking? What exactly does this mean for Fleury, who resurrected his career since joining the Golden Knights and led them to a Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season?

This is pending a trade call.

Vegas will not retain any of Marc-Andre Fleury's salary ($7 million, through this season). Only minor leaguer Mikkael Mikael Hakkarainen is going to VGK.

Clears the path for Robin Lehner to be starter in Vegas. is the No. 1 in Chicago. https://t.co/4g63eh143R
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) July 27, 2021

As Kaplan tweeted, the trade still isn't finalized yet, so there could still be some pieces headed to the Pacific Division juggernaut.

As for why Fleury would be OK going from a contender to a team in the Central Division cellar, there's a chance he doesn't play at all, according to Hockey Night in Canada's Elliotte Friedman.