Marc-Andre Fleury Trade Gives False Hope for Minnesota Wild Fans
Arguably the biggest name on the market for the NHL Trade Deadline, Marc-Andre Fleury, has been officially shipped from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Minnesota Wild.
BREAKING: Hearing #Blackhawks are trading Marc-Andre Fleury to #mnwild. Sounds like conditional 2nd round pick that can become a 1st for CHI.@DailyFaceoff
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 21, 2022
Marc-Andre Fleury was traded to the Blackhawks from the Vegas Golden Knights this past offseason. That move, along with others, made Chicago a playoff contender in the eyes of many fans. Unfortunately, that didn't work out as the Blackhawks are third-last in the Western Conference.
With Fleury being in the last year of his contract, Chicago has traded him to a playoff team as a rental player. It was the Wild who eventually took the bait, but I don't think this will make much noise for the Minnesota faithful.
How Does the Marc-Andre Fleury Trade Affect Minnesota Wild Stanley Cup Odds?
WynnBET Sportsbook has kept the Wild's Stanley Cup odds steady at +2000, which means you'd profit $2,000 on a $100 bet if Minnesota wins it all.
Marc-Andre Fleury hasn't been great this season and there's risk in that being his new normal at this age. But he has a strong recent history of elite play that makes him a worthy gamble – and a substantial upgrade in net for the Wild. pic.twitter.com/waQUItXCFQ
— dom at the athletic (@domluszczyszyn) March 21, 2022
I think the lack of movement is completely justified. As big of a name as Fleury is, he's struggled all season long. He sports a 2.95 goals against average, and a .908 save percentage, which makes this the worst statistical season since his last year in Pittsburgh, when he had a 3.02 goals against average and a 9.09 save percentage.
To be fair, he's still an improvement to the Wild's goaltending situation. They rank 24th in the NHL in team save percentage this season at 89.94%. With that being said, it's ironic that the Golden knights are the only playoff team that have a worse team save percentage.
Perhaps the change of scenery will do Fleury well and help lead them on a deep playoff run. Perhaps not.
Time will tell, but this move doesn't make want to rush to the sportsbook to bet on the Wild to win it all.
Iain is 50-44-2 (+3.96 units) with his NHL picks in 2022. Check out his detailed record here.