Last season, the Chicago Blackhawks were in the thick of things most of the year, tailed off, and missed another post-season. The Blackhawks goalie situation looked grim especially after the first couple weeks. The NHL realigned all the divisions so teams could play in their own stadium. The Blackhawks had to play the bad Detroit Red Wings multiple times. The team still had to play the Lightning multiple times who have won back-to-back championships. The Blackhawks were without their captain the entire season, Jonathan Toews. Cory Crawford retired. A young goalie named Kevin Lankinen took the net and showed the league he can play inside the pipes. What if the Blackhawks Corey Crawford played last season and stayed healthy? Would the team have made it to the playoffs? Lankinen was pretty good, but if Crawford had been at his best and healthy, Blackhawks would have gotten to the post-season. This off-season there is finally a move by Stan Bowman the General Manager that I can applaud. Blackhawks land veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade.

At first this move of landing the veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, looked very Blackhawk-like. The 36 year old Fleury, a three time Stanley Cup winner, liked living in Vegas and his family thought about just hanging up the skates for good. Then a few weeks later, the former Penguins goalie decided he wants to play in Chicago. The deal was simple; the Blackhawks gave the Golden Knights minor league forward Mikael Hakkaraainen, a center born in Finland and Chicago, who has a veteran net presence next season. If you recall, the Golden Knights had one of the best goalie tandems in the league last year with Robin Lehner, a former Blackhawk himself. It was the Blackhawks that traded Lehner in 2020 in a three team trade that involved the Golden Knights and the Maple Leafs. Blackhawks got the Golden Knights back-up goalie Malcolm Subban in that trade. We’ve seen enough out of him as he was horrible. The Golden Knights needed to clear some salary cap and one of the goalies had to go. Fleury makes sense having only one year left on his deal.

Marc-Andre Fleury is the reigning Vezina trophy winner which means he was the top goalie last season in the entire NHL. In 36 regular season games last year for the Golden Knights Fleury went 26-10 in the net. Fleury had a save percentage of 928 for the year only allowing 1.98 goals a game. Plus, Fleury had six shut-outs. Fleury won all three of his cups in a Pittsburgh uniform. Fleury has also helped the Golden Knights make it to their first cup and he helped the team get deep into the playoffs this past season. Fleury ranks third in all-time wins in regular season with 492. Fleury is a for sure Hall of Famer when he hangs up the skates for good.

I like this move a lot by the Blackhawks. I know its a seven million dollar hit on the cap. It’s only a one year hit as Marc-Andre Fleury will become a free agent if the move does not work out. I think this move can benefit your young goalie Kevin Lankinen who should get some games in as the back up. Lankinen can learn from a future Hall-of-Famer. The Blackhawks would have a solid 1-2 punch in the net which they lacked last season. Plus they would have a guy who has been there and done that in the playoffs with Fleury helping the team get back to the post-season. In the NHL it takes a hot goalie and an all-star like Patrick Kane to lead your team past the first round and beyond. I like Jonathan Toews returning. The Blackhawks did well without him as they hung in there most of the season. With a healthy Toews, the Blackhawks will be better. The Blackhawks added Center Tyler Johnson from the Lightning who adds post-season experience which will improve this team. I don’t agree with the money they will be paying or what they gave up to land the defenseman Seth Jones from Columbus. Seth Jones will be a upgrade over an aging Duncan Keith who was dealt to the Oilers. The biggest reason this may work out for the Blackhawks is because Fleury has an axe to grind with the Golden Knights for trading him. Plus, Vegas found his replacement in 2020 with Robin Lehner. In 2021, Fleury showed Vegas he was still the guy. Fleury still has that passion, and he may want another contract after this year. Might not be with the Blackhawks, but we may go down that road when the time comes. Right now Stan Bowman can breathe a sigh of relief that he’s not being dragged out of the United Center by fans with pitchforks and torches.