Lehner said he still worries about that risk hurting his future even after this season, when the support he received throughout the hockey world, especially from the Islanders and their fans, was overwhelming. He went 25-13-3 with a 2.13 goals-against average, .930 save percentage and six shutouts, and finished third in the voting for the Vezina Trophy behind winner Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning and runner-up Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars. Lehner and Thomas Greiss won the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals (196) in the NHL during the regular season.
"To see him come forward with it, see the work that he did and the struggles and to share it with people, I couldn't be more proud of him," said St. Louis Blues center Ryan O'Reilly, who played with Lehner for Buffalo from 2015-18. "That is not an easy thing. For everyone to know that, for a team to give him a chance, and then to see what he did, it's so impressive."
Lehner said he viewed telling his story as a way to help others who battle similar demons and are afraid to let anyone know about them. That part is working.
"I've had such an incredible outpour of support and so many people that have contacted me or tried to contact me that I still haven't been able to get to yet that are just scared to take that first step, scared of doing the things necessary to turn their lives around," Lehner said. "That's incredibly rewarding."
The 27-year-old said he recently found out about people who are helping themselves because of his public admission during a dinner he had with the doctors from the NHL-NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program who initially treated him.
"They obviously don't tell me names or anything, but they said a lot of people have reached out to them and started getting help because of me being outspoken," Lehner said. "If that was just one person, it would be worth it."
Lehner said the process of ending the stigma associated with addiction and mental illness in the NHL is in the early stages.
"We as players in this league, GMs, whoever it might be, there needs to be some change to open it up," Lehner said. "Why it's been so successful for me this year is because I was open with it, I think the program for the first time was able to work together with the team. The program and the team together have been able to be on the same page and do the right things. It's been a good collaboration. The problem is, the majority of people are not going to come out and be open about it to the team, so the team part is going to be not involved."