Marc-Andre' Fleury still listed among top Oilers goalie upgrade candidates
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In a bid to win the Stanley Cup, finding that one missing piece could make all the difference for a team. Now, it's no secret that goalie Marc-Andre' Fleury is retired, and could be coaxed into joining a contender.
According to Fleury's agent Allan Walsh, five teams have called the 2-time, Stanley Cup champ, though none was able to convince him to put on the pads again.
Yet, the Edmonton Oilers are not most teams. They've played deep into the last two Stanley Cup Finals, and are poised to do it again in the 2025-26 playoffs. And if anyone can help them finish what they've begun, it's Marc-Andre' Fleury.
Yes, if any team can coax Fleury out of retirement, it's the Edmonton Oilers. They are proven, perennial contenders - Fleury will improve their chances on the ice, as well as in the locker-room, where he's known to be a leader.
«Fans should expect either a Stanley Cup delivered with Skinner-Pickard or a complete overhaul in goal by this time next year. Possibly sooner,» Allan Mitchell of The Athletic recently wrote.
Indeed, that is Edmonton's dilemma, that the Skinner-Pickard tandem hasn't delivered. Should Oilers' management determine before next year's trade deadline that this is likely to be the case once more, then a move will have to be made. If it's to be Fleury, he will need to know that he will be relied upon to win.
Fleury can't just be a back-up to one of Skinner, or Pickard; or a 3rd-stringer; or a 1B option. He will need to know how many games he'll play, and even then, it will have to be in the right situation. Edmonton could be that situation.
It is a certainty that if Skinner-Pickard should falter, GM Stan Bowman will need to get aggressive, much like what the Colorado Avalanche did in 2024-25, when they overhauled their goalie position in only 11 days. It can be done.
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