NHL Trade Rumors 2017: Stars and Penguins reportedly talking about Marc-Andre Fleury deal

The market for the top NHL goalie at the trade deadline might be drier than anyone expected, but that reportedly isn’t keeping a long-rumored suitor from approaching the table.

Pierre LeBrun of ESPN and TSN told Toronto’s TSN 1050 on Wednesday that the Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins have had “a very preliminary discussion” about a Marc-Andre Fleury trade.

Here’s LeBrun’s report as transcribed by FanRag Sports:

“I’m told that there at least been a very preliminary discussion between Pittsburgh and Dallas regarding Marc-Andre Fleury, but I stress preliminary because I don’t think there’s anything there at this point. But certainly there’s been contact and sometimes you just do that so that if you have to circle back at the last moment, you know that you’ve at least established contact. We’ll see.

“Certainly Fleury with two more years on his deal and a championship resume, I think we all agree would be an upgrade. But either way, whoever it is, they can’t go into next year — and it’s not all on the two goalies, but the team save percentage speaks fairly loudly. They need saves. I mean, you can’t be chasing all night long like they have been most nights.”

Fleury’s impending departure from the Penguins has been written in stone ever since Matt Murray emerged to lead Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup last season. The 32-year-old veteran carries a huge $5.750 million cap hit, but that shouldn’t scare off Dallas.

The Stars are saddled with a pair of goaltenders, Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi, who hold a combined cap hit of more than $10 million that won’t expire for two seasons and haven’t given the Stars the bang for their buck. Lehtonen is 11-15-6 with a .902 save percentage this year, and Niemi is 10-8-4 and a .901 save percentage. Both goalies own a sub-.500 quality start percentage and have been pulled from games numerous times over the last two months.

The Stars’ problems this year extend further than goaltending, of course. Injuries to Mattia Janmark, Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky, and many others have created lineup chaos. The departure of defensive veterans like Alex Goligoski and Jason Demers and reliance on young, inexperienced defensemen have contributed to their current position, seven points out of a playoff spot.

But if Dallas does decide to move for Fleury, they’d need to convince the Penguins to take on either Lehtonen and Niemi. With just weeks left until the trade deadline, both sides will need a lot of work to get done to make a deal happen.