Not trading Marc-Andre Fleury would be a disaster for Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks made a great move when they acquired Marc-Andre Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights last summer. It was at a time when the team looked like they were going to be pretty good.

They had just traded for Tyler Johnson, Seth Jones, and Caleb Jones to join their current group that had a few good players. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out according to plan as the team has been one of the worst in the Western Conference.

Marc-Andre Fleury hasn’t been the problem. In fact, he has been far from it. So far this season, he has a 2.91 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage, and four shutouts. This hasn’t been enough though as the Hawks sit at 20-29-8.

Fleury would probably have even better stats if he wasn’t on a team as bad as the Chicago Blackhawks. He literally won the Vezina Trophy in 2020-21 as a member of the Golden Knights because he was so good.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to trade Marc-Andre Fleury before the deadline.

Fleury’s outstanding play is probably even hurting the Hawks more than helping them. If the season ended now, they would have the 8th best odds to win the lottery. Without Fleury, they might have a way worse record.

It came out that Fleury told Chicago that he would like to stay with Chicago, despite being on an expiring contract. That would be a disaster for the Hawks if they gave into that. They are going nowhere this year and need to have better asset management than that.

A team like the Edmonton Oilers or Toronto Maple Leafs could really use a goalie for their playoff run. Fleury would be the best on the market if he were available. That would also mean that they have to pay a hefty price for him. The Chicago Blackhawks really need to jump on that.

Opportunities to get high-end picks and prospects don’t come around as often as people think. Marc-Andre Fleury could land the Hawks a fair amount of assets for a lot of reasons. He has his name on the Stanley Cup three times so he knows how to win in the postseason which really makes him even more valuable.

If they don’t trade him, that would be a huge mistake. Kyle Davidson came in and made it clear that they were rebuilding. You don’t keep Fleury on an expiring deal with no playoff hopes if you are rebuilding. Hopefully, the team does the right thing.