Fans absolutely rip into Vegas after classless Marc Andre Fleury trade

In case you missed the mega-news announced earlier today, the Vegas Golden Knights traded Vezina Trophy winning goaltender and franchise icon Marc Andre Fleury to the Chicago Blackhawks for... nothing. Literally they dumped his $7 million contract off on the Blackhawks for minor leaguer Mikael Hakkarainen.

Check it out:

Fleury ranks third on the @NHL All-Time wins list with 492 and is one of only 20 goaltenders in NHL history with three or more Stanley Cups ?https://t.co/nt9opBNMyA
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 27, 2021

But here's the thing... if you think the Blackhawks are getting a Vezina Trophy winning goalie for free... well... think again. Fleury's agent Allan Walsh reports that Fleury himself heard about the trade via Twitter and will consider his NHL future before committing to the Blackhawks.

Check it out:

While Marc-Andre Fleury still hasn’t heard from anybody with the Vegas Golden Knights, he has apparently been traded to Chicago. Marc-Andre will be taking time to discuss his situation with his family and seriously evaluate his hockey future at this time.
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) July 27, 2021

All of this is to say that there's a very real chance that Fleury will refuse to report to Chicago and never play in the NHL again. He made it clear that he was only interested in playing for the Golden Knights or the Pittsburgh Penguins, his former team, and that he would retire if moved elsewhere. It looks like the Golden Knights and the Blackhawks are holding his feet to the fire a bit and... well fans aren't too happy about it.

Check out some of these reactions to the Golden Knights' official "thank you" message to Fleury:

This organization, this city and this fanbase will forever be grateful to Marc-Andre Fleury for the impact he’s made on and off the ice in just four years. We wish Marc-Andre and his family the best in this new chapter of their lives. #VegasBorn ? pic.twitter.com/tiXn3d3wm0
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) July 27, 2021

Why didn’t you tell him he was being traded then? pic.twitter.com/LVBFbFpiPa
— Petrov McGuire (@McguirePetrov) July 27, 2021

pic.twitter.com/3bemDvaNKC
— S Λ Μ (@sighsamuel) July 27, 2021

pic.twitter.com/5tzi3HNX6B
— NHL Chirps (@nhlchirpz) July 27, 2021

Classless franchise. Always will be.
They did this with Schmidt, Gallant, almost Pacioretty and now face of the franchise, fan favorite and vezina winning goalie, Fleury.

Not even a phone call. Every year they need a new toy to play with, no matter the cost.
— JoeytheDog (@FlamesDoggo) July 27, 2021

pic.twitter.com/vpElOEs7xl
— ?⬆️? (@WashedUpTendy) July 27, 2021

Ouch... hard to say I don't agree. This is no way to treat a veteran player, especially one who has been the face of your franchise since Day 1. Absolutely appalling way of doing business from the Golden Knights here.

Fleury had a 10 team no-trade list and it's not clear whether or not Chicago was on his list, but this move paves the way for some more shuffling of the deck in Vegas. Clearly the team was going to have difficulties bringing back both Fleury and Robin Lehner in the crease next season, but they actually seemed content to ride things out with Fleury especially given just how well he played this season and how popular of a person he is with fans and teammates. Still... this is a business and you can't blame Vegas for making a tough financial decision. The fact of the matter is that Fleury is older and more expensive than Lehner, so you just knew that something was in the works. Today's transaction simply proves what we all assumed, that Vegas had been looking to offload Fleury essentially for nothing.

Now the question is whether or not Fleury reports to Chicago once training camp opens in September.