From Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Writing Fleury column for Wednesday, and check out this quote from Rutherford: 'as long as I'm the GM, he'll be our goalie.' #pens
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) October 21, 2014
So we suppose you’ll have to wait until tomorrow (or at least later tonight) to read Rossi’s column, but that appears to be a pretty strong vote of confidence from general manager Jim Rutherford.
Granted, Rutherford doesn’t exactly hold the title of GM For Life in Pittsburgh. In fact, the 65-year-old said upon being hired this past summer that he only expects to serve in the position for two or three years.
Fleury, though, is a pending unrestricted free agent, so there’s a good chance that Rutherford will still be the GM when a decision on the goaltending needs to be made. Fleury, 29, is off to a decent start in 2014-15, with a 3-1-0 record and .915 save percentage.
Of course, it’s not what Fleury does in the regular season that anyone really cares about. It’s how he does in the postseason, where he’s had his share of struggles in recent years. In 93 career playoff games, despite backstopping the Pens to a Stanley Cup in 2009, his save percentage is a modest .905.