Chicago Blackhawks Trade: Robin Lehner is headed to Vegas

The Chicago Blackhawks have traded Robin Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights. This leaves Corey Crawford as the main guy for the rest of the season.

The Chicago Blackhawks have had an up and down year. It has been more down than up since the All-Star break so they went into full sell mode this Trade Deadline. First, they sent Erik Gustafsson to the Calgary Flames. Now, they have traded Robin Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights. In the trade, they acquired goaltender Malcolm Subban, a prospect and a pick.

Lehner is now going to go to a stacked Vegas Golden Knights team. They play a solid defensive game from their forwards to their defense so he should absolutely thrive in that system. For the rest of the regular season, he is going to share the net with Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury probably gets the nod for the playoffs but they probably won’t hesitate to go to Lehner if Fleury struggles at any point. This is a loaded team that is ready to challenge for the Stanley Cup.

This could also really help Lehner’s cause to get paid. He is going to a defensively sound team that is going to be a threat to make a deep playoff run. He already had good numbers in Chicago, where the team in front of him allowed so much rubber to be put on the net. In Vegas, they are better at keeping the opposition’s high danger scoring chances down so Lehner should be perfect.

As for Chicago, Corey Crawford should resume the role of a full time starting goalie. He is also on an expiring contract so you might see the team look to give him a little extension. Subban should take over the role as the team’s backup goalie. It is a little sad that this season had to come to trading one of their two very good goalies but here we are. Hopefully, things work out for Lehner in Vegas and beyond as he pursues a new full-time home.