Front-runner steps out of Marc-Andre Fleury sweepstakes!

Although veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury would love to stay with the Minnesota Wild, there is a chance he could be approached by general manager Bill Guerin ahead of the March 8 deadline for a possible trade. For weeks, the beloved netminder has been linked to the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers as the most likely trade destinations, however on Thursday, Pierre LeBrun provided an update in trade rumours and one contender appears to be out of the Flower sweepstakes. Indeed, the Oilers looked to have faith in their current goaltending duo, and could revisit the idea of having Jack Campbell reinserted back in the lineup, and consequently could have made room for another contender for Fleury’s services. This is what LeBrun said about the situation on last night’s edition of Insider Trading on TSN:

“As they get closer to March 8, if it’s clear that the Wild are out of the playoff hunt Fleury could potentially look at two or three teams.

“Among those options I’m told are the likes of the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, and the Maple Leafs. These may be obvious but, again, Fleury wants to stay loyal to the Wild if they can stay in the race.”

There is no doubt that Fleury will generate trade interest league-wide, but because he has a no-trade clause it’ll be up to him to ultimately decided where he ends up.

That could be one of the reasons why Edmonton has moved on from the idea of acquiring the goalie, who stated on Wednesday during a French interview with TVA Sports, that he wants to remain in Minnesota.

“Every year, when players’ contracts come to an end, names of pending free agents always come up in the rumors to be on the move. For me, my team is Minnesota. We have such a good group of guys and great chemistry. I’ve been here for over two seasons. I’m not thinking about leaving or going somewhere else. I want to continue to fight with my team to try to make the postseason.”

In recent years, Fleury has known all too well about the trade deadline chaos when he was moved to the Wild at the 2022 trade deadline after a controversial move from the Vegas Golden Knights to the Chicago Blackhawks in the summer of 2021. He may be looking to stay put as he keeps helping the Wild to stay alive in the playoff race.

Being a beloved goalie and teammate across the league, any team would be lucky to land Fleury for a postseason run, however with LeBrun’s latest update, it sounds like it won’t be the Oilers.

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