Golden Knights view goalie situation with Fleury, Lehner as top priority
'First order of business … is to sort that out,' GM McCrimmon says
© Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
"We don't have those answers for you right now," general manager Kelly McCrimmon said Wednesday. "But [the] first order of business, I think, in many respects, is to sort that out."
Goaltending was not the issue when the Golden Knights lost to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final. Vegas scored eight goals in five games.
But it is a burning issue now because Lehner can become an unrestricted free agent after this season (Oct. 9) and took the starting job from Fleury, who is signed for two more seasons at an average annual value of $7 million. Lehner turned 29 on July 24; Fleury turns 36 on Nov. 28.
Fleury's agent, Allan Walsh, tweeted an illustration of a sword -- bearing the last name of coach Peter DeBoer -- going into Fleury's back and out of his chest Aug. 22. It was taken down the next day. Fleury said then he had asked Walsh to take it down.
Lehner denied a report Friday that he and Vegas had agreed to a five-year, $25 million contract in June to be signed after the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
McCrimmon was asked Wednesday how much of a priority it was to re-sign Lehner and whether Vegas could fit Lehner and Fleury under the NHL salary cap.
"Well, good questions, and those are exactly the types of decisions we're going to be working on immediately," McCrimmon said.
McCrimmon declined to comment on negotiations with Lehner.
"I think we've been consistent that we don't talk about contracts until they're finalized," McCrimmon said.
McCrimmon said he believed his relationship with Fleury was very good and called the tweet a nonissue.
"I don't think it affected anything in our dressing room," McCrimmon said. "I don't think it affected performance, which obviously was the most important thing."
Lehner and Fleury were not made available as part of the Golden Knights' postseason media availability, but McCrimmon and DeBoer spoke in detail about how the situation evolved.
Vegas hired DeBoer on Jan. 16 and acquired Lehner before the NHL Trade Deadline on Feb. 24. McCrimmon said management and the pro scouting staff wanted to improve the goaltending in case anything happened to Fleury.
Although Lehner was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL last season, the idea was not to replace Fleury, who had been the face of the Golden Knights since his selection in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and led them to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season of 2017-18.
"You hand the team to the coaches, and they coach the team," McCrimmon said. "I don't think that it's wise or healthy to have management making lineup decisions. I don't think that that's how it works in the NHL. I don't think it's how it should work."
Fleury started four games after the trade deadline, Lehner three. Fleury went 2-2-0 with a 2.51 goals-against average, an .894 save percentage and one shutout. Lehner went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA, a .940 save percentage and one shutout.
"Robin played at an elite level, and [Fleury] played at a very good level," DeBoer said.
Then the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
"Peter felt really confident after we went through [voluntary small-group workouts] and [training camp] that Robin was the guy that was going to give us the best chance to win, and that's his job," McCrimmon said. "And was it unfortunate for Marc-Andre Fleury and his situation? It really was. And do I have empathy for him and how that played out? I really do. But it was not, as some are suggesting … It was not the master plan.
"In fact, Pete was not even that interested in us acquiring a goalie at the trade deadline."
Vegas played three games in the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers. Lehner started two, Fleury one. Lehner went 2-0-0 with a 2.89 GAA and .903 save percentage, Fleury 1-0-0 with a 4.00 GAA and .765 save percentage.
Lehner started 14 of the 17 games in the playoffs, going 7-7 with a 1.85 GAA, a .920 save percentage and four shutouts. Fleury went 2-1 with a 1.69 GAA and .940 save percentage.
"I went in with the idea that if both guys played at an equal level, we would have given [Fleury] the starts out of respect [for] what he's done for the franchise here," DeBoer said. "But [Fleury] came into camp and unfortunately had an injury. Robin played at a really elite level.
"We split them through the round-robin. Robin again was at an elite level, [Fleury] was at a very good level, and we made that tough decision. And I don't regret that.
"No one has more respect for 'Flower' as a person or a teammate or his resume and what he's done for this franchise and through his career, but we made the decisions that gave us the best opportunity win, and we're going do that again going forward."
