Fleury headed to Minnesota for draft pick
After weeks of speculation and debate, Kyle Davidson was able to deal goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury before Monday's trade deadline.
And the first-year Blackhawks GM couldn't be happier for all involved.
Davidson's happy for Fleury, who now has a chance to chase a fourth Stanley Cup on a Minnesota squad with the third-best points percentage in the Western Conference (.639). Davidson's happy that he was able to swing a deal with one of the few - if not the only - teams Fleury was willing to go to.
And he's happiest for the Hawks, who acquired a conditional first-round pick from the Wild in this summer's draft. (It becomes a second-round pick if Minnesota does not reach the Western Conference finals or if Fleury doesn't win a combined four games in the first two rounds).
"I'm really happy with how it went," said Davidson, who also dealt Brandon Hagel to Tampa Bay on Friday for two first-round picks and forwards Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk. "You don't know how these things are gonna play out. You have all these plans, but the fact is that you need other teams to kind of play along to some respect and to value your players at the same level that you do.
"To walk away here with, potentially, three first-round picks (and a) couple really good NHL players right now is something I'm really, really pleased with."
The Hawks made one other deal Monday, sending forward Ryan Carpenter to Calgary for a fifth-round pick in 2024.
Davidson was clearly in talks with teams about acquiring other players, but his price was not met.
"If the value's not met, then you value the player more than anyone else," Davidson said. "So, we're happy with the players that are here. We value them more than other teams around the league, clearly, so we're happy they're still with the Blackhawks."
When then-GM Stan Bowman acquired Fleury from Vegas last off-season, the Hawks understood what kind of player they were adding. But most had yet to experience the depths of Fleury's thoughtfulness, generosity, wit and competitiveness.
They also found out that Fleury - even at age 37 - still exudes a childlike exuberance and loves to keep things light. That was most evident after a December practice when Fleury took a Nerf gun out at Fifth Third Arena and started firing away at his teammates. One shot nailed Jonathan Toews right in the noggin.
"He's definitely one of the best teammates I've played with," said defenseman Seth Jones. "He cares so much. ... He's always got something nice to say, something good to say, something positive to say even when times are tough. ...
"I've played with some pretty good goalies in my career, from Pekka Rinne to (Sergei) Bobrovsky and so on. Just how genuine he is, it makes everyone else care that much more and hopefully be that much better."
"One of the nicest guys," Hagel said.
Fleury, who went 18-14-5 with a .913 save percentage and 2.72 goals against average after a rough first month, should give Minnesota a legitimate chance to make a deep postseason run. After acquiring Fleury, the Wild traded backup goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to San Jose. Minnesota's other goalie is Cam Talbot (.907, 2.92).
"There's not much that beats winning," Fleury told reporters in Minnesota before the Wild hosted Vegas. "You can ask anybody who has won - you're always chasing that feeling and that achievement. Just want to keep doing it again."
With Fleury gone, it gives Kevin Lankinen an opportunity to prove he can be a No. 1 netminder - or at least a strong backup. Lankinen impressed as a rookie in 2020-21 by going 17-14-5 with a .909 save percentage and 3.01 goals against average.
He's struggled much of this season, however, going 3-8-4 with an .885 save percentage and 3.51 goals against average that ranks 58th out of 67 goalies with at least 12 appearances.
Collin Delia will be the backup.
As for trading Hagel, who was second on the Hawks with 21 goals, Davidson said the Lightning's offer was just too good. Davidson acknowledged the move hit some Hawks hard, but he doesn't expect them all to see the big picture just yet.
"I was very honest with what we were going to do and what we are setting out to do," Davidson said. "Unfortunately, maybe not every decision is popular with everyone. And I understand that.
"That comes with the territory of making difficult decisions and looking at a more long-term plan. ... That's not necessarily (what) everyone's responsibility is. There is a requirement for transparency, but along the way, there are just difficult decisions that aren't going to make everyone happy.
"That's kind of what just happens in this role."