Everyone knows what Marc-Andre Fleury has accomplished in the NHL. Fleury has won three Stanley Cups as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, has taken part in five All-Star games during his illustrious career, and won the William M. Jennings Trophy and the Vezina Trophy in 2021 while with the Las Vegas Golden Knights. But he is now reportedly in the final season of his great career and the team that currently employs him, the Minnesota Wild, have work to do to get in the playoff race. That's why Fleury is a popular name that can be moved ahead of the March 8 NHL trade deadline.
The Wild are not out of the playoff picture entirely. They currently sit at 13th in the Western Conference and seventh in the Central Division with 47 points. They are seven points behind the St. Louis Blues, who are currently eighth in the West. There is still plenty of time for the Wild to make a move up the standings, but it is more likely they won't catch up with the rest of the pack and fall out of the playoff picture.
If that's the case, the Wild would be foolish not to become sellers at the deadline and accrue as many assets, including young players and draft picks, they can get. That would include trading Fleury, who again may retire after this season. Just about any team in the NHL looking to compete for the Stanley Cup would love to have a goalkeeper of his caliber. But who makes the most sense to trade for Fleury? A couple of teams stand out as potential destinations for him.
Philadelphia Flyers
The team that might make the most sense for Marc-Andre Fleury is the Flyers. This is especially so after their starting goalkeeper Carter Hart was granted an indefinite leave of absence from the club for personal reasons.
All of a sudden, the Flyers need a goalkeeper. Ever since Philadelphia released that statement regarding Hart's leave of absence, they have become a funnel for goals. Hart's last game he played for the Flyers was on January 20 against the Colorado Avalanche. Up until that point, Philadelphia had averaged only 3.32 goals allowed per game. But in the four games after Hart left the team, they have allowed 20 goals, good for five goals a game.
The Philadelphia Flyers are a good team. They are third in the Metropolitan Division at 25-19-6 with 56 points under their belt. They have the eighth-most points in the Eastern Conference. They look like a playoff team, or at least a team that can get there. And in hockey, any team that gets in the Stanley Cup Playoffs can make a run if a goalkeeper gets hot. But the Flyers can drop out of the playoff picture if they don't stabilize their keeper situation. What better keeper to get to do exactly that than Marc-Andre Fleury?
Colorado Avalanche
If Marc-Andre Fleury wants to win another Stanley Cup, there might not be a better team to join than the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche just won the Stanley Cup a couple of seasons ago and are firmly in the mix to compete for it again this season. They are second in the Western Conference and have the third-most points in the entire NHL. Only the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks have more points than the Avalanche this season.
But one Achilles heel they have this season is on defense. The Avalanche have allowed 153 goals this season, which ranks as the 14th most in the NHL. They are among six teams this season with at least 50 points on the season that rank in the bottom half of the league in goals: the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, and St. Louis Blues.
However, among those teams, only the Lightning, Blues, and Red Wings join the Avalanche in the top eight of their respective conferences. The Blues and Red Wings barely even meet that criteria; St. Louis sits at eighth in the West while Detroit is seventh in the East. The Avalanche have the third-most points in the entire NHL. They see themselves as contenders. The Bruins and Canucks, the only two teams with more points than the Avalanche so far this season, have allowed 25 and 26 fewer goals, respectively.
The Avalanche may not *need* to make a trade for Marc-Andre Fleury, but he probably would be an upgrade over Pavel Francouz, Alexandar Georgiev, and Ivan Prosvetov. Not only that, but a trade for Fleury would keep him away from another contender and playoff hopeful. Those two reasons alone make enough sense for the Avalanche to try to trade for Fleury with the hope he can shore up their defense. If that happens, then Colorado could very well lift the Stanley Cup Trophy again in 2024.
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