Marc-Andre Fleury consents to trade to contender after refusing move to Washington

The trade watch is on Chicago Blackhawks’ Marc-Andre Fleury - again, but this time it seems like the veteran player is on board IF a contender looks to acquire him.

There is a sense that Fleury could be on the move ahead of the trade deadline, though the Blackhawks appear set on making sure Fleury is happy if he gets traded. While he only holds a 10-team no-trade list in his contract, Chicago is expected to do right by him. He is in the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $7 million.

Recent reports have indicated that Flower is not interested in joining the Washington Capitals, who have been in the mix to acquire him because he would not be comfortable coming to Washington in a trade because he is “still very much a Penguin.”

However, that does not mean that he is shutting down the entire idea of moving ahead of the trade deadline. While the Vegas Golden Knights adamantly denied that a reunion was in the cards with Fleury, the beloved goalie had this to say to reporter Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times about moving to a contender ahead of the March 21st deadline.

“IF I move, I would love to have a chance to win. But it’s still a big if.”

He explained that he has not held conversations with the Hawks about a potential trade, though he believes his agent has. On top of that, Flower also revealed that he strongly believes he’ll play at least one more season beyond this one. And so a contender could get very interested in acquiring him.

I love Fleury, so I would love to see what he can do in the last seasons of his career, especially with a club that can win a championship. There was chatter of a reunion with the Penguins, which sounds too good to be true.

The Colorado Avalanche is also believed to be interested though they would have to move pieces around to insert Flower in its lineup.

This is a great storyline to keep an eye on ahead of the trade deadline.