There’s a New Twist in Marc-André Fleury’s Potential NHL Return

Marc-André Fleury was back in Pittsburgh over the weekend to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Penguins’ 2015–16 Stanley Cup championship, which included an awesome pregame tribute that had captain Sidney Crosby getting emotional.

With reports throughout the year suggesting that Fleury could make a return to the NHL later in the season, you would have to believe that seeing former teammates Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang—albeit currently injured—still going strong and pushing for the postseason would give him the itch to come back himself, however, according to a Penguins insider, that might not be the case.

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In a recent article for The Athletic, Josh Yohe shared that after conversations with Fleury and those close to him, he believes an NHL return isn’t in the cards after all.

Yohe wrote:

“I’ve spoken with Fleury and several people close to him in recent weeks, and while I don’t doubt he misses life in the NHL, I don’t think we’ll see him playing in the league again. The Flower seems very content in retirement, and I take him at his word,”

The 40-year-old Fleury is, of course, currently retired, though speculation remains that he could join a contending team as a free agent should the right opportunity arise.

He went 14–9–1 last season with the Minnesota Wild while posting a 2.93 goals-against average, a .899 save percentage, and one shutout in 26 starts.

All It Takes is One Phone Call to Lure Marc-André Fleury Back

Fleury might seem content on the sidelines for now, but one phone call offering the right opportunity—playing a meaningful role on a team with a real shot at the Stanley Cup—could be hard for him to turn down.

Goaltending issues have once again started to creep up in Edmonton, the place Fleury has been linked to the most amid return rumors. His hometown Montreal Canadiens have also struggled to find any consistency in net, and injuries to Carter Hart, coupled with poor play from Adin Hill, could put his former team, the Vegas Golden Knights, in the market for help in goal.

Yohe is very well connected to Fleury and the Penguins, so his word on the situation carries a ton of weight. That said, where there’s smoke, there’s fire—and there’s been far too much chatter about Fleury returning to the NHL for anything to be ruled out at this point.

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