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New Jersey Devils: Robin Lehner Makes A Lot More Sense Than Marc-Andre Fleury

By Nick Villano

Marc-Andre Fleury #29 and Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate on the ice after the team's 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game Seven of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena on May 28, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Marc-Andre Fleury #29 and Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate on the ice after the team's 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game Seven of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena on May 28, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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It’s rumors season, and the New Jersey Devils are front and center to one tied to the reigning Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury. The Vegas Golden Knights are paying Fleury and Robin Lehner a combined $12 million per season. These deals were agreed upon before the introduction of the flat salary cap that was forced upon us by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elliotte Friedman on his 31 Thoughts podcast said the Devils were tied to Fleury and Lehner when asked specifically about Devils rumors. That doesn’t mean the Devils are the frontrunners, but their name is officially out there now. Tom Fitzgerald will get asked about it at the NHL Draft after he speaks, and that’s if the deal doesn’t get done before that.

Seeing what Fleury did last season would make any Devils fan drool. He won the Vezina with 38 games played, a .928 save percentage, and allowing less than two goals per game. Fleury had a weird postseason, but during the regular season, he was unstoppable. The Devils need consistency in net. They haven’t had two good options between the pipes in years.

Marc-Andre Fleury would be a nice piece for the New Jersey Devils, but Robin Lehner is just a better option.

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The Devils would be better off going after Robin Lehner anyway. It’s a very weird market for goalies, so the Golden Knights aren’t going to get a deal done if they are asking for the moon. Free agency is stacked with goalies, including Vezina finalist Phillip Grubauer and former Vezina winner Tuukka Rask. There is also Petr Mrazek, Freddie Andersen, Chris Driedger, Jaroslav Halak, and Linus Ullmark on the free agency market. That’s ignoring the fact that Cam Talbot, Darcy Kuemper, and Jake Allen are all available on the trade market.

So, the Devils should be looking for a longer-term option here. Fleury is 36 years old and is on the final year of his deal. He’s making $7 million on the salary cap (although his real-time salary is $6 million). Lehner, on the other hand, is due $5 million over the next four seasons. He was supposed to be the Knights’ long-term solution in net, but plans change. He’s only 29 years old and has a lot left in the tank.

The Devils need to find a long-term solution at the goalie position. Mackenzie Blackwood can easily be their 1A option, but the backup option has tanked the season in seasons past. With the team looking to actually play better, getting a goalie like Lehner could prove to be the one move to send the Devils to the next level.

The issue here is the no-move clause both Fleury and Lehner have on their contracts. Both players can make a list of teams they don’t want to go to, and with the Devils missing the playoffs in eight of the past nine seasons, they are likely one of them. Fitzgerald would need to convince either player to come to the Garden State for the next era of Devils hockey. Lehner only gets an eight-team no-trade list, so unless it’s a “no-Canada” list similar to what Kyle Palmieri had last season, Lehner would likely take some convincing.

Either way, if the price is right both goalies would work for what the Devils are trying to do. The price is imperative, though. The Devils can’t trade significant assets in this deal because there are a ton of goalies available.

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