It has been over a month since Marc-Andre Fleury was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in their expansion draft. For many, Fleury was a favorite Penguin that was loved and adored throughout his tenure in Pittsburgh. It was evident anytime a home crowd burst out with a "Fleury, Fleury, Fleury!" chant. It was evident anytime a teammate spoke about him to the media. It was evident when he was given a contract extension after his playoff woes.
Statistically speaking he is the Penguins best goalie to play for the franchise. He has played in the most games (691), has the most wins (375), the most saves (17,774), best save percentage (.912), and the most shutouts (44). You can understand when looking at these stats and combining them with his personality why he was adored in Pittsburgh.
Included in the outpour of love and support for Fleury's tenure in Pittsburgh were talks of the Hall of Fame and having his number retired. That's where the line needs to be drawn. That is where proper context should be taken into consideration.
The main argument for Fleury is usually win based. I do not find much value in the goalie win stat much like I don't find value in a baseball pitcher's win stat. There are way too many variables at play that goalies/pitchers don't account for while still contributing to their records.
Earning 375 wins means you are doing something right, let me just get that out of the way. You can't be a below average goaltender and accumulate that kind of number. You would lose your job before reaching that win total. You can also reach that win total by playing on a stacked team and being a goaltender with wild swings between great and below average. Fleury did just that.
You have a lot of room for error as a goaltender when your team is literally the best offensive team during your tenure in net. No other team in the NHL provided more goal support for their goaltenders than the Pittsburgh Penguins.
According to NHL.com Pittsburgh led all teams in goals for per game from 2007-17
As far as even-strength goal support the findings were similar
*The 5v5 data on this includes stats up to February 25th, 2017 from Hockey Analysis. I did not plan for every useful stat site that provides rate stats going back to 2007-08 being shut down *
The team providing awesome goal support is only one part of the equation when looking at Fleury's goalie wins. His performance still matters. Let's take a look at how he performed and how other goaltenders performed during this sample.
These are the goalies who played big minutes the last decade and Fleury does not jump out as one of the leaders. He comes in around league average which suggests that a lot of goalies could have had similar win totals if they were employed by the Penguins for ten years of the Crosby/Malkin era.
Fleury's athleticism has always been considered a positive. It is logical to think that a goalie that can move as quick laterally as Fleury would have a nice advantage. That did not translate into a better high-danger save percentage over the years.
He is once again not near the leaders.
Those were the regular season numbers. I don't believe you can have a conversation about Marc-Andre Fleury without mentioning the playoffs. The last couple of seasons Marc-Andre Fleury gave the Penguins quality goaltending in the playoffs. Some of the preceding years were some of the worst goaltending we've seen in the salary cap era from a Stanley Cup contending team.
In 2008 Fleury put on a Conn Smythe caliber performance. In 2009 he was average and that was good enough. From 2010-13 he was a dumpster fire and was in my estimation the driving force behind early playoff exits.
In 2010 against the Canadiens Fleury had a miserable Game 7 and finished with a .692 save percentage. This was the year that the Washington Capitals were "Halak'd" and the assumption is that Pittsburgh was as well. Halak played well at .927, but the Penguins were comfortably the better team in that series. According to NHL.com they controlled 57.53% of the shot attempts at 5v5. Fleury finished the series with an .892 save percentage. The Penguins were Fleury'd, not Halak'd.
The 2011 postseason was unique. There was no Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. They were both out for the season. There weren't a ton of expectations heading into the playoffs and for some losing round one in seven games wasn't a big deal. However, the Penguins did have a 3-1 series lead over Tampa Bay and once again controlled the series with a 5v5 shot attempts percentage of 59.97%. Fleury was below average again finished with another bad save percentage. This time .899.
The Flyers series in 2012 was a memorable one. Tensions were incredibly high and the games had wild swings in them. There were plenty of goals to go around. The reason why that happened is because both goaltenders were horrendous. Discipline is the popular excuse for the Penguins losing the series, but even being "undisciplined" they still controlled 56.44% of the shot attempts and if I had expected goals data available for that series the Penguins were comfortably in control of that as well. Fleury finished with an embarrassing .834 save percentage. This marked the end of Pittsburgh's awesome advantage at the center position. Jordan Staal would be traded this offseason. The Crosby-Malkin-Staal trio's last three years were wasted with poor goaltending.
In 2013 Fleury didn't get out of the first round. His underwhelming play saw him replaced by Tomas Vokoun for the remainder of the playoffs.
In 2014 Fleury somewhat rebounded with a decent overall series against Columbus, but against New York he was highly volatile. He had two great games which resulted in shutouts, but that was offset by the other five games not being able to go above .900.
Dan Bylsma deserved his criticism towards the end of his tenure in Pittsburgh, but there is a four year stretch where his starting goaltender couldn't give the team a save. When the going got tough the puck went in the net. Fleury's ability to stop high danger shots does not compare favorably to the other playoff goaltenders with a large sample around the league
*This chart only goes to 2016 because of the lack of ability in getting a cumulative database of HDSV% at the present moment*
In 2015 Fleury played well against the Rangers, but the Penguins blue line was decimated and overworked heading into the playoffs. The combination of injuries and only being able to play five defenseman because of cap problems came at the worst time of the year.
In 2016 Fleury sustained a concussion leading into the playoffs and was unavailable and a non-factor. Matt Murray was the guy and the Penguins won their first Stanley Cup since 2009.
In 2017 the roles were reversed. It was Matt Murray being injured and Marc-Andre Fleury stepping up. Fleury deserves all the credit in the world for his play against the Washington Capitals. By any metric or evaluation tool the Capitals crushed the Penguins. The only reason the Penguins advanced was because they received goaltending. It was a great moment for an extremely popular player. Ultimately Matt Murray returned to being the starter for the last two rounds, but Fleury had legitimately contributed in a positive way for his team's championship run. It was a perfect storybook ending for Fleury's Pittsburgh tenure.
The way Fleury handled his transition from starter to backup was executed in the most professional manner possible. There was no bad blood between the two goaltenders and things could have played out way differently. Both players were supportive of one another and I think that speaks volumes about Fleury's character and why he has the unwavering support of his teammates, fans, and the front office.
One of the best moments from the Stanley Cup celebration was the "passing of the torch" from Fleury to Murray
Shortly after the parade celebration Fleury was left unprotected in the expansion draft. Fleury had waived his no-movement clause in a pre-arranged deal with General Manager Jim Rutherford which was reached around the trade deadline. Fleury didn't have to do it, but he did. Vegas then selected Fleury to be the face of their franchise and also acquired a 2020 second round pick from the Penguins.
Marc-Andre Fleury's tenure as Pittsburgh's starting goaltender was anything but boring. The highs were highs and the lows were low. The one thing that remained consistent was his smile and the support from his teammates and fans. He will be remembered fondly for his personality and his best moments, none better than this one
For fans that want to remember Fleury in a positive light I encourage you to continue to do so. His bright moments as a Penguin should not be ignored nor do I expect them to be.
For those that want to retire his number or see him go in the Hockey Hall of Fame, you need to pump the brakes. We are talking about a slightly above average goalie with a terrible stretch of postseason play playing in one of the best situations of the salary cap era.
Thanks for reading!
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