The Vegas Golden Knights acquired veteran goaltender Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks in the final hour before the NHL trade deadline on Monday, sending goaltender Malcolm Subban, defenseman Slava Demin and a second-round pick back to Chicago.
As part of the trade, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Vegas' fifth-round selection in the 2020 draft in exchange for forward Martins Dzierkals. The Maple Leafs have retained a portion of Lehner's salary as part of the transaction.
Golden Knights get: G Robin Lehner
Blackhawks get: G Malcolm Subban, D Slava Demin, 2020 second-round pick
Vegas Golden Knights: A+
Marc-Andre Fleury has not exactly been Marc-Andre Fleury this season. Per Hockey Reference's metrics, he has a minus-4.55 goals saved above average this season to go along with a 25-14-5 record, a .906 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average. It has been a challenging season for him on and off the ice -- he lost his father in November.
Malcolm Subban was very much Malcolm Subban this season, with a 3.18 GAA, a .890 save percentage and a 9-7-3 record. He had a goals saved above average of minus-10.44, and only .368 of his 19 starts met the "quality starts" standard. Sunday night's win over the Anaheim Ducks was the second straight game in which the Knights were victorious but Subban gave up five goals.
Lehner, meanwhile, is more than just an insurance policy. He's 16-10-5 with a .918 save percentage and a plus-10.56 goals saved above average, which follows his plus-26.24 goals saved above average of last season when he was a Vezina Trophy finalist for the Islanders. He had a .936 save percentage and a 2.00 GAA in the playoffs last season for the Islanders.
The Golden Knights are Marc Andre-Fleury's team. He remains the masked face of the franchise. But with Lehner, they haven't just fixed their backup netminder problem -- they have assembled the best goaltending battery in the Western Conference.
He'll be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Which brings us to ...
Chicago Blackhawks: C+
If this is the end of Lehner's tenure with the Blackhawks -- and it certainly appears like it is, reading the Chicago media takes -- then that very much plays into computing this grade.
Mark Lazerus of The Athletic reported that Lehner was willing to stay in Chicago on a low-cap-hit, three-year contract extension, but that was a no-go. One assumes that means Corey Crawford, also a free agent, will be brought back on his own low-cap-hit deal. Subban, 26, has yet to prove he's a capable NHL goaltender, but he makes just $850,000 and will be a restricted free agent this summer.
While first-round picks were being tossed around at the deadline -- and five of them moved in the past week -- Lehner's expiring contract earning a second-round pick (Pittsburgh's) and a prospect isn't terrible. Especially since the goalie market doesn't have as many destinations as the forwards do.
About that prospect, here's what ESPN analyst Chris Peters had to say:
"Slava Demin is a big, rangy defenseman who takes care of his own end first. He was a pretty solid producer in junior [hockey], but over two seasons at Denver has had a harder time putting up points in a more defensive-minded role. He's a physical presence on the back end with good mobility. The Blackhawks, no doubt, have some added familiarity since one of their top prospects -- Ian Mitchell -- is part of the same Denver D corps. Denver has had a pretty good track record of developing quality defensemen, and he should be a guy Chicago can get under contract in the next year or two."
Lehner wanted to remain in Chicago, and no doubt there's some surprise that they appear to have moved on. Their loss is very much the Knights' gain.