Darren Dreger of TSN was the first to report on Tuesday that the Vegas Golden Knights have traded their Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Chicago Blackhawks for Mikael Hakkarainen.
Fleury has had a late-career resurgence on the Golden Knights and is one of the players that has been with the franchise since its inception. This past season he posted a record of 26-10-0 with a goals-against-average of 1.98 and a save percentage of .928.
Fleury traded after finest season as a pro
This was Fleury’s first Vezina Trophy of his career but he also carries a significant salary-cap hit of $7 million. Backup goalie Robin Lehner also carries a cap hit of $5 million, making the duo among the most expensive in the league.
The Golden Knights will receive Mikael Hakkarainen in return from Chicago, as first reported by Pierre Lebrun.
Hakkarainen is a 23-year old center who has scored 2 goals over 23 professional games in the last two seasons. Much of the value from this trade comes from the salary cap space that the Golden Knights have opened up.
This article will be updated with more details as they are released.