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Marc-Andre Fleury Speaks About His Situation In Pittsburgh |
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Marc-Andre Fleury Speaks About His Situation In Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Penguin players who are not taking part in the World Cup of Hockey are starting to filter into Pittsburgh to start practicing.
One of those players is longtime starter Marc-Andre Fleury. The Flower heads into this upcoming season with the least amount of job security he has ever had since becoming the regular starter about a decade ago. He is being pushed by young up and comer Matt Murray. While the relationship between the two players appears to be positive there is no doubt each goalie wants to play. How much will each goalie play is still up in the air.
The Bobfather spoke about this situation at length yesterday on TSN 690 in Montreal.
“Well, he could just reinforce what’s obvious, and that is that he a No. 1 NHL goaltender on a team that’s already got Marc-Andre Fleury,” replied McKenzie. “But Marc-Andre Fleury has got a no-move clause. And, on top of that, as much as Pittsburgh has cap issues and what have you – as much as they might look at it objectively and say, ‘We really can’t afford to keep Fleury and Murray in the fold. One of them has got to go. It probably makes more sense to get rid of the older guy than the younger guy.’
“But again, it comes back to the no-move clause. But also they want a little more time for this thing to shake out. As good as he was in the playoffs, as good as he might be in the World Cup, I still think they like the insurance of having two goaltenders that they can count on. But sometime between now and the trade deadline – depending on injuries, performance, and all of those things that have yet to come – that’s when they could say, ‘Okay, we do have an embarrassment of riches at the position. It really behooves us to move one guy.’
“At the end of the day, if Murray is going to be a quasi-No. 1, even with Marc-Andre Fleury in the situation, at some point Fleury is going to say, ‘Hey, I want a new challenge. I want an opportunity to go somewhere where I am the guy and that I’m not in a diminished capacity because Murray is taking more and more games and slowly inching his way to being the true No. 1 on this team.’
Bob is speaking to the same logic that many people have said about the situation. He went on to talk about how he believes that a trade would be likelier at the deadline or after the season.
How does Marc-Andre Fleury feel about all of this?
“You never know when that's going to happen, right?” Fleury said. “I've been very fortunate to be here for a long time, even though I'm still young.”
“I'm sure Matty is in the same boat, too,” Fleury said. “We'd like to play games. But if that's what it is, that's what it is. You deal with it and try my best when I'm in there.”
“Me and Matty playing gives us a chance to win games, and bottom line, that's what matters,” Fleury said. “It doesn't matter who's in the net.”
If that changes anytime soon, it won't be because Fleury has asked for a trade. He emphatically shot down that idea Thursday.
“No. No. No. I've always said this is like my home,” Fleury said. “I wish I could play here my whole career. I try to do my best for the team and for the organization.”
On the surface Fleury has a great attitude about the situation. He fully understands the situation and he is going to focus on the things that he can control. That is the professional approach to things. There is no doubt that not playing and losing games to Murray would be disappointing for him.
Fleury is Pittsburgh through and through so it is no surprise that he wants to finish his career in the only city he has known home in the NHL. Unfortunately, the writing is on the wall and his Pittsburgh career likely only has months remaining even if he won't be asking/facilitating for a trade.
For now he is one of two good options the Penguins have in net.
Thanks for reading!
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