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Penguins hold on to Fleury

3 min read
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PITTSBURGH – The biggest move by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline may end up being the one they didn’t make.

The defending Stanley Cup champions held on to goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury through Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline, opting to keep the franchise’s all-time leader in victories while instead trading draft picks and role players in an effort to bolster an injury-ravaged defense.

Pittsburgh sent a fourth-round pick the 2018 draft to Tampa Bay in exchange for veteran defenseman Mark Streit, who was acquired by the Lightning earlier in the day. Pittsburgh also brought in Frankie Corrado from Tampa Bay for forwards Eric Fehr and Steve Oleksy as well as a fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft.

The Penguins are dealing with serious injury problems along the blue line. The team put Trevor Daley on long-term injured reserve Wednesday while he recovers from anthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Olli Maatta is still out a few more weeks after having hand surgery.

Pittsburgh picked up defenseman Ron Hainsey from Carolina last week and found another player with plenty of experience in Streit. The 39-year-old had five goals and 16 assists in 49 games with Philadelphia. The Flyers sent Streit to Tampa Bay early Wednesday and a few hours later the Lightning flipped him to the Penguins for a draft pick.

The Lightning agreed to pay a portion of Streit’s remaining salary, a necessity because Pittsburgh is up right against the salary cap. The Penguins created a little wiggle room by sending Fehr and Oleksy for Corrado, who has two goals in 69 games across five seasons while playing for Vancouver and Toronto.

Fehr, who helped the Penguins win their fourth Stanley Cup last spring, saw his playing time decrease in recent months while Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan opted to go with younger, fresher legs. Fehr has six goals and five assists in 52 games this season. Fehr is averaging just 10:56 of ice time a game, well off the 13:03 he averaged last season.

Fleury saw his starting spot taken by Murray, who caught fire in the playoffs last spring after Fleury was diagnosed with a concussion. The two split time earlier this year but Murray has become the de facto No. 1. Fleury has made just six starts since Jan. 1.

General manager Jim Rutherford stressed in the run-up to the deadline that he would talk to Fleury about the 32-year-old’s future. Fleury has said all the right things while receding into the background and Rutherford has maintained he believes the Penguins will need Fleury if they want to become the first team in nearly 20 years to win back-to-back Cups.

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