The Toronto Maple Leafs made their move on the goalie front yesterday. They acquired former Anaheim starter Frederik Andersen for the 30th overall pick (Penguins pick) and a second round pick in 2017.

Publicly the Penguins have said they will not ask Marc-Andre Fleury to waive his no trade clause and I don't believe they will. I also believe the team knows Marc-Andre Fleury can see the writing on the wall and will want to be a #1 starter somewhere next year. Fleury starting isn't looking likely in Pittsburgh so it wouldn't be shocking if Fleury did indeed ask to be moved.

The problem, as it was before yesterday, is that there just aren't that many teams looking for an expensive soon to be 32 year old starting goalie. Toronto has a heavy analytics presence right now. They were never going to pour significant assets at a goalie who will turn 32 very early in the season. Especially if there was a 26 year old on the market with similar production the last three years. Marc-Andre Fleury carries a .9260 EVSV% under the goalie whisperer Mike Bales. Frederik Andersen is at .9255% in the same time frame. Toronto also got to choose the term and money they wanted with Andersen.

Calgary has shown interest in Fleury but there are other goalies out there too. James Reimer won't take any assets to acquire. You would just need to sign him.



For as well as Marc-Andre Fleury played last year Reimer was right there with him.

Then there's this

Penguins want #Flames 1st round pick for MA Fleury. Rutherford playing dangerous game as only one team wants Fleury: https://t.co/HzzKWINIWg

— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) June 21, 2016

Yeah, that just isn't going to happen. I would be careful not to turn off Calgary considering it is a buyer's market for goaltenders right now. Asking for the #6 overall pick is insulting when you look at goalie trades from yesteryear and present.

Pittsburgh doesn't have any leverage in the situation. The Toronto deal should represent the optimistic ceiling for a Fleury trade. Anaheim was in a similar, but not identical situation to Pittsburgh regarding their goaltender situation. They have a young goalie (Gibson) that is probably capable who they want to move forward with. They had another goalie who was set to get a decent raise and make more money. They would only be able to protect one of them in the draft and didn't feeling like losing an asset for nothing. That is where the similarities end. Andersen did not have a no movement clause so if they really wanted to play things out with Andersen they could have. They weren't going to be forced into protecting the goalie they didn't want to. The Penguins don't have that luxury. They need to make a trade with one of their goaltenders because of Fleury's NMC.

Waiting to make a goalie trade is not the prudent move for Pittsburgh. There is no reason to create extra risk in this situation by letting it play out.

Toronto is one less team looking for a starter. Calgary is still a potential destination. How many other suitors are there? I do not envy the position Jim Rutherford is in.

Edit:

Reports out of Canada have a deal in the works for the #Lightning to trade Ben Bishop to the Calgary Flames.

— Kevin ODonnell Fox13 (@ODonnellFox13) June 21, 2016

CGY obviously in market for goalie. Suspect they will or have talked to TB about Bishop: https://t.co/o26lFNaem3

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 21, 2016

Uh oh. This isn't going to make things any easier on the Penguins. Tampa Bay is in a similar situation as Pittsburgh. They will want to protect Andrei Vasilevkskiy from the expansion draft. They may also be super motivated to shed Bishop's cap hit for a last ditch run at Stamkos.

Thanks for reading!

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