Toronto Maple Leafs Lucky Marc-Andre Fleury Re-Signed With Wild

The Toronto Maple Leafs  were said to be interested in goalie Marc-Andre Fleury this offseason.

Although he would be the most famous goaltender to start for the Toronto Maple Leafs since Ed Belfour, signing Marc-Andre Fleury would have been a terrible decision for this organization.

Lucky for them, he re-signed in Minnesota because signing him would have been a disaster.

With 945 career games played, Fleury has seen it all. From the World Junior Championship’s, to five Stanley Cup Finals appearances, the Pittsburgh Penguins made the right choice in 2003 drafting him first-overall.

I’m a huge fan of Fleury and always will be. Ever since he wore those yellow pad’s in Pittsburgh, he’s been a player that I’ve admired and followed. His personality lights up a room and his flexibility makes him one of the best goaltender’s of the past twenty years.

However, at this point in his career, is this the gamble that the Toronto Maple Leafs should want to make? And if its true that they were interested in him, what does it say about what them?

In my opinion, there is no way Fleury is currently the goalie you want to invest Auston Matthews’ prime in, and so, if the Leafs were hoping to land him on the open market, I think the Wild just saved them from themselves.

Lucky Break, but the Toronto Maple Leafs Still Need a Goalie

Over his career, he’s been blessed with an unbelievable cast around him and although he’s been very good himself, you don’t think of him as a player who carries you to a Stanley Cup Final.

He’s also not someone you think of immediately as a first-ballot Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender, despite playing in so many Finals’.

During those late 2000’s team’s, Fleury was a beneficiary of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang and the other cast of character’s around him. Then, when the team won back-to-back Stanley Cup’s in 2016 and 2017, he was saved by up-and-coming goalie Matt Murray, who was the starter for both Stanley Cup clinching series’.

Fleury redeemed himself when he went to Vegas and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals again, so that was all him, but if you break it down, he’s really only won one Stanley Cup as a starter and that team was captained by arguably the best player to play in the NHL since Wayne Gretzky.

He’s had a great career, but I for one am happy that it won’t be ending in Toronto.

Will the Leafs bring back Campbell? Will they make a surprise trade? I can’t wait to find out.