Like most visitors to Vegas, Lehner was supposed to come here for a good time but not necessarily for a long time. The Golden Knights were loading up for a hopeful run at the Stanley Cup.
With Fleury already in the fold and one-time Vezina finalist and Jennings Trophy winner Lehner in the crease, Vegas was in prime position between the pipes.
Fast forward seven months and a global pandemic or so and the unexpected has unfolded in a lot of manners.
The NHL season was paused and Lehner and his family got to live in Vegas for an extended period. They fell in love with the city and the organization. Lehner earned the bulk of starts for Vegas in the Stanley Cup playoffs and helped the team reach the Western Conference Final posting four shutouts and a .917 save percentage.
Goalies of Lehner's status don't come available very often. McCrimmon was able to pry him out of Chicago because of his pending unrestricted free agent status at the trade deadline.
Lehner's numbers over the past five seasons are among the best in the NHL.
Since 2015-16, Lehner has a .920 Sv% over 215 games. That ranks 2nd among the 30 most active goalies over that time (190+ games).
Over those 5 seasons, the only season he wasn't excellent statistically was in 2017-18, a season in which he battled with mental health and left his team to get help. In the other seasons he ranked #4, #15, #2 and #11 in Sv% among goalies with 20+ games.
Here's a look at Lehner by the numbers over the last two season:
2019-20 (min 35 GP)
Sv%: .920 (4th/30)
Goals Saved Above Expected: 4.92 (7th/30)
2018-19 (min 35 GP)
Sv%: .930 (2nd/41)
Goals Saved Above Expected: 18.9 (3rd/41)
Last 2 Years (min 70 GP)
Sv%: .925 (4th/39)
Goals Saved Above Expected: 23.82 (2nd/39)
Lehner's new deal puts him in the middle of the pack among NHL starters.
The 13th to 16th highest paid goalies in the league all made $5.00M last year.
The contract is good for both sides in that it will work for Vegas without too much salary cap surgery and it gives Lehner the long-term security he's wanted for some time.
In 2011, Lehner won the Jack A Butterfield Trophy as MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs with the champion Binghamton Senators, in 2019 with the New York Islanders he and partner Thomas Greiss won the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed in an NHL season as well as the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the sport of hockey. Lehner was also a finalist for the Vezina Trophy that season.
