Marc-André Fleury will get a night off Thursday when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Columbus Blue Jackets to start a six-game homestand.
Arvid Söderblom will get his second career start.
Fleury probably needs the extra time needs to recuperate from his tussle with a car trunk — or with a raccoon, whichever whimsical story meets your fancy.
“A raccoon jumped me late at night,” Fleury joked Wednesday about a shiner under his left eye. “I bite back. Don’t worry, he took it worse. No, it was a stupid story. My car trunk came down at the wrong time. I wish I had a good story.”
Fleury has been at ease sharing funny anecdotes and quick-witted quips with teammates, fans and media since he arrived in Chicago last offseason, but his wisecracking demeanor sobers a bit when another subject comes up: trade rumors.
The Hawks are 18- 24-7 and third from the bottom in the Western Conference. Every loss — or even a failure to get two points — brings them closer to the reality that they’ll have to ship off assets, and by consensus Fleury is asset No. 1.
“Yeah, it’s part of the game, right?” Fleury said after practice at Fifth Third Arena. “I feel like every trade-deadline season you always hear a lot, especially guys whose deals are coming up to an end, you know?” ...
“Obviously I hear about it. I don’t have social media so I don’t see everything, but people tell me about it. I’ve just not worry too much about it, right? Play the games here and try to win games here. We’ll see what happens.”
Entering Wednesday, Fleury ranked 33rd with a .910 save percentage, but he’s sixth with 1,013 saves after facing the fifth-most shots against (1,113).
He’s in the 97th percentile in medium-danger chances and in the 76th percentile in projected wins above replacement (WAR), according to JFresh Hockey.
In other words, teams know Fleury might flourish on a contender that can put better defense in front of him. Various reports have floated the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche as potential destinations.
Daily Faceoff reported that Fleury’s previous team, the Vegas Golden Knights, expressed an interest in him returning, especially with Robin Lehner sidelined with an upper-body injury. Fleury felt blindsided when the Knights traded him to Chicago last summer.
On Tuesday, Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon batted down that trade scenario.
“There is absolutely no credence to that rumor at all,” McCrimmon said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I wouldn’t normally speak (officially) on such things, but there will be so much racket about this, it’s important to let people know that’s not going to happen.”
Fleury responded Wednesday: “So I don’t have to worry about it I guess.” He added that he believes his agent has been in communication with the Hawks front office about his future, but no one has approached him directly yet.
“I’m sure we will, right? But the deadline is still weeks away (March 21) ... so (we’ve) still got a lot of time.”
Fleury did answer a central question: If the Hawks don’t trade him, would he want to come back to Chicago.
“Yeah, it’s been good,” Fleury said. “Obviously I wish we would be winning more, I wish we would be higher in that playoff race, definitely. But (I) love my teammates, great bunch of guys, great staff, locker room, the fans have been good, the people around town have been good to me.
“Only positive things to say about this place.”
The Hawks have had only good things to say about Fleury, including coach Derek King. Losing Fleury in a trade would be a “huge loss,” King said.
“I was talking to him, I said I don’t know what more I can say nice about you,” King said. “I was almost like borderline superfan with him. He’s such a good person, and the hockey part of it we all know what he can do. But ... he’s just an excellent person, human being.”
King also commented on what Fleury’s presence brings to the team.
“He’s great in the locker room, he has a great sense of humor,” King said. “He’s focused, but he doesn’t take himself too serious. He plays the game the right way and he’s a competitor. And we’re going to miss that if it comes to the point where he is moved. ...
“Sometimes they move players, you’re not happy about it. But he has to think of himself too. For selfish reasons, hopefully he stays.”
Fleury has some control over where he would be traded, so if it happens, he would want to be on a contender.
”I don’t know. If — if — I move, I would love a chance to win,” he said.
But if a return to Chicago is in the cards — he has a $7 million cap hit this season and will be an unrestricted free agent — it might well be a farewell season.
”I don’t have that much left,” Fleury said. “So enjoy this season and hopefully next season again, and then after that, we’ll see.”
