Fleury accepting of reduced role with Golden Knights: 'Lehner is their goalie'

Marc-Andre Fleury appears to have no issue with taking a bit of a back seat for the Golden Knights following the addition of Robin Lehner.

"Yes, I'm ready to share (the net). This year, I expect it will be a strange season. There will probably be several games in a few days, there will be a condensed schedule," Fleury told Le Journal de Montreal's Jean-Francois Chaumont, as translated by theScore. "I think not all teams will have the choice to use their two goaltenders. For this season, it'll be a good thing to count on two competitive goalies. It'll give our team a good chance."

Vegas recently inked Lehner to a five-year, $25-million contract despite having Fleury signed for two more years at a cap hit of $7 million a season.

The 35-year-old Fleury has been the face of the Vegas franchise since being picked from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the expansion draft. He appeared in 156 games over the past three seasons and helped guide Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season.

During the 2019-20 campaign, Fleury appeared to show signs of fatigue and decline, posting his worst save percentage (.905) since 2009-10.

When asked if he's more motivated to reclaim his No. 1 spot in the crease by the changing of the guard, Fleury indicated he's accepted the team's decision.

"Yes and no," Fleury said. "I want to play for me. I want to have fun. I don't have many years left in front of me. I know that Lehner is their goalie. I'm more likely to fill holes. They've placed their trust in Lehner. I don't think I can regain my No. 1 spot, but I'm still going to try to fight back for it. ...

"We play for the same team and we are looking to do our jobs. He wants to play and so do I. We have the same mentality. But there are no bad looks between us. He's a good guy."

After the Golden Knights acquired Lehner at last season's trade deadline, Lehner went on to start 16 games during the postseason, while Fleury only appeared in four.