It was rumored during the Stanley Cup Final that the Vega Golden Knights and goaltender Robin Lehner had a handshake deal on a new five-year contract extension that would keep the netminder in Vegas. On Saturday, that handshake deal became an official one.
As per a few sources, Lehner has agreed to a contract extension worth $25 million over the next five seasons. An announcement is expected by the organization later today.
Lehner was looking for a deal that would see him stick with one team for more than part of one season. A series of team-friendly deals was starting to frustrate the netminder as he was clearly feeling underappreciated for consecutive seasons of strong numbers. Yet, for some reason, his timing was either always unfortunate or teams just weren’t confident in his health. Vegas is the first team to finally offer the goalie a deal that makes him happy and keeps him in one place for an extended period of time. And, the deal itself is actually quite a fair one, so it wasn’t about maximizing his earnings, but finding the right fit and setting up his security.
Lehner said of the signing on social media:
Can’t put in to words how happy me and my family are to finally find a home. Especially in a fantastic place like las Vegas with this great team and organization. It’s been a long road to get here for me and I could not be any happier. Life is at times not easy and
You make mistakes and you can learn from them. I’ve been extremely lucky to have some special people help me get to this point. This is also a big win for everyone with mental health issues out there. I’m an open person with bipolar 1, ptsd, anxiety And that’s ok. I take medicine.
And that’s ok. I work with psychiatrist and that’s ok. You work trough your issues as hard as you can and it’s possible to get rewarded whoever you are and no matter what you are dealing with.
What Happens With Fleury?
Now that Lehner is signed (or is about to be) the next question is what happens with Marc-Andre Fleury? It’s not likely that the Golden Knights are going to want to hang onto over $12 million in combined salaries for goaltenders. He’s likely either going to be traded or bought out of his contract.
Lehner will be the new No. 1 in Vegas based on his play in this year’s postseason. That means that news of this signing is only the start of more news to come out of the organization over the next few days.
Congratulations to Lehner for finally landing the long-term deal he wanted. He earned after his incredible run during the playoffs.
Next: Rask and Kuemper Updates: UFA Goalie Market Creates Crease Flood
