The first big domino of deadline day has fallen with Chicago goalie Marc-Andre Fleury being traded to the Minnesota wild for a conditional 2nd round pick.
This offseason, Fleury will be an unrestricted free agent and has a modified no-trade clause; and was very particular about where he went. The Wild also traded for Tyson Jost last week in echange for Nico Sturm.
The conditions on the pick are as follows if the Wild make the Western Conference Final in 2022 and Fleury has four or more wins in the first two rounds, it will become a first-round pick for the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks also retain 50% of Fleury’s $7,000,000 million cap hit.
The Wild have had a rough 8-10-1 stretch in the last six weeks and have had the third-worst goals against per game in that same timeframe, so this is a much-needed improvement in the net. Fleury has a .908 SV% and a 2.95 GAA even after a terrible start to the season both for him and the team and will be playing with a better roster in Minnesota. One of Cam Talbot or Kaapo Kahkonen is likely to be moved as a result of this trade
The Blackhawks have begun their rebuilding process as they have now gotten potentially three future first-round picks as they got two in the Brandon Hagel trade Friday. It will be interesting to see if GM Kyle Davidson will move anyone else today. Rumors of Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat have been floated, but it seems unlikely they will be on the move before the deadline.
