Marc-Andre Fleury says he will report to Blackhawks, putting an end to possible return to Pittsburgh

Less than a week after speculation was arising that a reunion between the Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury could be possible, it appears the chances of that reunion happening are extremely unlikely.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Fleury has informed the Blackhawks that he indeed will play this coming season.

This comes after previous chatter of Fleury considering retirement following his being traded from Vegas to Chicago last week.

As the talk of retirement came up and the possibility of not wanting to play for Chicago, it was mentioned that the Penguins could try and work a deal to land their former net minder and reigning Vezina Trophy winner.

This also aligns well with GM Ron Hextall’s comments last week about feeling confident that both Tristan Jarry and Casey Desmith would be returning to the Penguins.

Fleury coming back to Pittsburgh never seemed all that likely, given the Penguins tight salary cap and the number of moving parts it would’ve taken to bring Fleury back, but now with it being reported that he will play for Chicago, the reunion can be called off — for now.

Fleury will be a free agent next season, so we can play this game again next summer, but without the need to make trades. If he wants to come back to Pittsburgh to put a bow on his career, he’ll have that opportunity to do so if he wants it.