Perhaps the biggest trade piece for the Chicago Blackhawks at this year’s deadline has been cashed in.
According to reports from Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, Chicago has traded veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a conditional second-round pick that could become a first-rounder.
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
[UPDATE] Seravalli, along with NBC Sports Chicago reporter Charlie Roumeliotis, cleared up the terms of those conditions and specified that the draft pick is for 2022:
The conditional pick in Marc-Andre Fleury trade is in 2022, per source. #Blackhawks https://t.co/C5fNTSpCeK
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 21, 2022
Fleury conditions: 2nd round pick becomes a 1st for #Blackhawks if MIN reaches Western Conference Final and Fleury accounts for 4 wins or more in first two rounds.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 21, 2022
Multiple media reports indicated that the Blackhawks will be retaining half of Fleury’s $7 million salary:
#Blackhawks are retaining 50% of Marc-Andre Fleury’s salary in trade to Minnesota, per source.
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 21, 2022
Fleury came to the Blackhawks last summer in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights for prospect Mikael Hakkarainen, a move made by Vegas to free up salary cap space. While Fleury had a bit of a slow start to the season, mirroring the abysmal first month of the Blackhawks’ 2021-22 season. But after that shaky open, Fleury was often the reason Chicago was competitive at all, ending his 45-game stint in Chicago with a 19-21-5 record, .908 save percentage and 2.95 goals-against average.
[UPDATE] The speculation all along has been that the Blackhawks would not have moved Fleury against his wishes. This report indicates that Fleury was aware of the potential for this deal, unlike his offseason trade from Vegas to Chicago:
Sources say Marc-Andre Fleury was asked about the #mnwild 2-3 days ago and agreed to waive if a deal could be worked out because he believes the Wild are a contender. Fleury had a “very, very short list.”
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 21, 2022