The Minnesota Wild isn’t playing in the playoffs this year, which means that we won’t see Marc-Andre Fleury in the postseason for the first time in 17 years.
Flower has won three Stanley Cups over the years, and he did have options to better his chances of continuing his amazing streak earlier this season.
Fleury was one of the most mentioned names ahead of trade deadline, but he decided to stick around and take his chances.
The Wild wasn’t out of contention just yet, and he didn’t want to let down his teammates by leaving for another team.
That means that, for the first time since the 2005-06 season, we’ll have a playoff without Fleury featuring in any way.
“I’ve been very fortunate to be part of so many playoffs,” Fleury told The Athletic.
“My goal is always to win the Stanley Cup. Best feeling you can get in hockey, but at the deadline, I believed in our chance. I liked the way the guys were battling down the stretch here. From the All-Star break on, our record was pretty good, right?
“But Nashville went on a crazy run. Like, we had a good record, but we weren’t moving in the standings. We couldn’t move when we needed to. It’s frustrating. But I thought the guys here, we battled together trying to make a push.”
But there was no other way to put it, as Fleury called it both ’weird’ and ’surreal’ to know exactly what date his season is ending.
Fleury still hasn’t decided about next season, and when he plays against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, it’s probably his second-to-last start of the season.
He’ll probably play again in the season finale, and that couldn’t just be his final game of the season but also his career.
And if Fleury keeps playing, it will be with the Wild.
“I’m not moving the kids, playing in a new place, retiring and then moving the kids again,” said Fleury.
Fleury is apparently, per The Athletic, building a house in suburban Las Vegas, that will be ready for retirement.
