Lehner signs five-year, $25 million contract to stay with Golden Knights
Goalie could have become free agent Oct. 9, helped Vegas reach Western Conference Final
Lehner signs with Golden Knights
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NHL.com @NHLdotcom
"The [contract] term, obviously, means a lot to me," Lehner said. "I have 5-year-old, almost 6-year-old son that has five different hockey jerseys. Schools, friends, all those types of things, we live a privileged life, but you want to give your family stability as well, and I couldn't find a better opportunity and a better setting than Vegas with a great community and a great fan base, organization, all those things.
"It's something I fought for, and for different reasons it's taken it's time. Now it's here, so it's a very good day for us."
The 29-year-old goalie, who could have become an unrestricted free agent Oct. 9, was 19-10-5 with a 2.89 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and one shutout in 36 games (34 starts) with the Golden Knights and Chicago Blackhawks this season.
Lehner said this contract is also important to him because of his previous battles with bipolar disorder and alcohol abuse.
"I wanted to do this for my family, but I also wanted to do this for everyone else out there struggling, showing that you can get an organization, no matter if it's professional sports or a normal job or an executive or a CEO or whatever it is, that you can be counted on," Lehner said. "You can be a leader. You can be a well-liked person. You can perform on the ice.
"But I got the help that I need and I've been open about a lot of things in my life. It's been a hell of a journey for me that someday in the future I can talk about."
Lehner signed a one-year contract with the Blackhawks as a free agent July 1, 2019, and was 16-10-5 with a 3.01 GAA and .918 save percentage before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 24 and then traded to the Golden Knights later that day.
He won his three regular-season starts after he was traded to Vegas. At the time, the Golden Knights framed the acquisition as support for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season of 2017-18. Fleury agreed to a three-year, $21 million contract (average annual value $7 million) with Vegas on July 13, 2018, which runs through 2021-22.
But Lehner started 15 of 19 games this postseason for Vegas, supplanting Fleury as the No. 1 goalie. Lehner was 9-7-0 with a 1.99 GAA, .917 save percentage and four shutouts to help the Golden Knights advance to the Western Conference Final, which they lost to the Dallas Stars in five games.
"As an organization, we felt this was in our best interest to secure Robin's services for the next five years," Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. "It gives us a proven starting goaltender at that position, which all along it was one of the oddities of expansion. We asked ourselves over and over, 'Where is our next goalie?' Of course, we had Marc-Andre that came in expansion from [the Pittsburgh Penguins], but we were not in the expansion draft able to select players basically from 1994-born players right now to 1999-born players. They were all exempt. So we never ever found that goalie.
"It's the most important position on the team and this has given us the chance to really solidify the position."
Fleury on Sept. 24 said he wanted to stay with the Golden Knights even if Lehner signed a long-term contract.
"I get along great with Robin, so I think it would be all right. I still love to play," the 35-year-old told The Athletic. "I don't think I just want to be a backup, but I'll practice hard, try to play well, and hopefully get some games, but it always comes down to the coach's decision. Whatever happens, happens. And that's fine. I'll just try my best to come to camp in good shape and do well from there."
Lehner was 25-13-5 with a 2.13 GAA, .930 save percentage and six shutouts in 46 games (43 starts) with the New York Islanders in 2018-19, when he teamed with Thomas Greiss to win the William Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed in the NHL. He also won the Masterton Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey, and was third in voting for the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL.
"I think his body of work becomes more and more impressive," McCrimmon said. "I know that when we traded for him he was coming off a season with the New York Islanders where they play a very defensive style and he was a Vezina finalist and had a really good year. And it was really interesting for me that he went then to Chicago, who played a more wide-open style of play and he continued to be one of the top goaltenders in the League.
"So then he joined our team and made a really good impression when we were working with him firsthand. So we had, we felt, a lot of information on the player, a lot of information on the person by working with him directly. So those are the things that went into our decision."
Lehner is 116-120-45 with a 2.72 GAA, a .918 save percentage and 15 shutouts in 301 regular-season games (282 starts) with the Golden Knights, Blackhawks, Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators, who selected him in the second round (No. 46) of the 2009 NHL Draft. He is 13-12 with a 2.01 GAA and .924 save percentage and four shutouts in 26 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
