The Chicago Blackhawks have traded Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild for a conditional second-round pick.
Should the Wild reach the Western Conference Final and Fleury wins four games or more in the opening two rounds, that second-round pick will become a 2022 first rounder. Chicago will also retain 50% of Fleury’s contract.
Fleury’s contract has a 10-team no-trade clause in it, but as part of facilitating the deal last summer to go from the Vegas Golden Knights to Chicago, the Blackhawks agreed to not trade him without his approval. A chance at winning a fourth Stanley Cup played a role in making this deal happen.
“Having the chance to be in the playoffs, the chance to battle, right? That’s why we all play in the end,” Fleury told TSN’s James Duthie about approving the trade. “It’s something that is also good for me and my family. I’ve got to thank Chicago, Minny’s not too far away. Obviously they have a great team. I think very solid defensively, they have a lot of big guys and they play well. … I’m happy things worked out.”
While Chicago is eyeing remodeling its roster, the Wild are third in the Central Division, one point behind the St. Louis Blues and have eyes on a deep Stanley Cup Playoff run. In 45 games this season the 37-year-old Fleury, who was the 2020-21 Vezina Trophy winner, has a .917 5-on-5 save percentage, 5.25 goals saved above average, and four shutouts.
To make room in their crease, the Wild have dealt Kaapo Kähkönen in a separate trade to the Sharks for defenseman Jacob Middleton.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.