After 21 NHL seasons, goaltender Marc-André Fleury retired at the end of the 2024-25 campaign with the Minnesota Wild.
Fleury spent nearly four seasons with the Wild, joining them after being traded from the Chicago Blackhawks midway through the 2021-22 season. He’d also spent four seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, winning his only Vezina Trophy in 2020-21 and backstopping them to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
Before that, Fleury began his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, spending 13 seasons in the Steel City. He helped the Penguins win three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, and 2017), becoming the franchise’s goaltending leader with 691 games played, 375 wins, 44 shutouts, and a 2.58 goals-against average.
Fleury was left unprotected by the Penguins in the 2017 expansion draft, where he was selected by the Golden Knights. He never really got the opportunity to say a proper farewell to the Penguins organization and their fans.
That changed on Sept. 12, when he signed a professional tryout contract with the Penguins. It enabled him to practice with the team and play one period of a preseason game in Pittsburgh against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Fleury said that his last real NHL game was with the Wild. However, this preseason appearance gave him the chance to finish his career where it began. It also gave him the chance for one last period of hockey with old teammates Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Bryan Rust.
The last hurrah turned out well for Fleury, stopping all eight shots he faced from the Blues Jackets in a 4-1 win while enjoying the cheers from a sold-out crowd at PPG Paint Arena. “I will be sore when I wake up tomorrow, but it was worth it”, he said.
Fleury’s performance prompted some pundits to suggest he might be coaxed out of retirement by clubs seeking an experienced goaltender. However, this was likely the last we’ll see the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer suiting up for an NHL game.
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