A goodbye that actually hits the ice
He retired in May, but he’ll pull a Penguins sweater back on in September. It’s the rarest exit in hockey: a goodbye shift that counts for nothing and means everything. After a 22-season career that ended with Minnesota’s first-round loss to Vegas, Marc-Andre Fleury is coming back to Pittsburgh for one more lap — by design, brief and intentional.
The Penguins have signed their former franchise cornerstone to a professional tryout (PTO) for a simple, sentimental mission. Fleury will take part in a training camp practice on Sept. 26 and then dress for one preseason game at PPG Paints Arena on Sept. 27 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. His plan is clear: play one period, enjoy the ovation, and head back into retirement.
“I wanted to go back to where it all began for me,” Fleury said. “I see it as a nod to the past. I’ll wear the Penguins jersey one last time and see old teammates and friends. It’s a way to come full circle.” He also said he’s “staying retired,” putting to bed any idea that this is a comeback in disguise.
The arrangement is unusual but perfectly legal. A PTO lets a player practice and appear in preseason games without a standard player contract. It doesn’t touch the salary cap and it won’t nudge anyone out of the opening-night roster. It’s not a one-day ceremonial deal; it’s an on-ice farewell that lets Pittsburgh fans say goodbye while the game clock is running.
Penguins president of hockey operations and GM Kyle Dubas didn’t hide what this means to the franchise: “The entire Penguins organization is honoured to welcome Marc-Andre Fleury back to the ice in Pittsburgh. Marc means so much to our team, our fans and the City of Pittsburgh because of the person he is and the example he set. The Penguins feel he and his family are most-deserving of this opportunity to celebrate this full-circle moment back where it all started.”
For Fleury, the finality of retirement is still fresh. “I had a little time maybe in my car after Game 6, driving home by myself and had a little time to reflect,” he said of that last night with Minnesota. “Just, I don’t know, still a little unbelievable that it’s over. Twenty years went by so quick, right?”
A legacy measured in wins, banners, and memories
Start with the numbers, because his do the talking. Fleury, 40, walks away second all-time in NHL goaltender victories (575), second in games played (1,051), and second in time on ice (60,669:03). Only Martin Brodeur sits higher on the wins list. Stack that with three Stanley Cups and a Vezina Trophy and you’re looking at a first-ballot legacy without needing to say the H-word.
Now zoom in on Pittsburgh, the place that shaped him and the place he helped shape. The Penguins drafted Fleury first overall in 2003 and rode through growing pains with him — from a teenage phenom learning the league to the steady heartbeat behind a roster built around Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Over 13 seasons in black and gold, he set just about every goaltending record the franchise keeps: games (691), wins (375), and shutouts (44). The team lifted the Cup with him in 2009, 2016, and 2017.
If you want the image that defines him in Pittsburgh, it still starts in Detroit in 2009 — final seconds of Game 7, Nicklas Lidstrom alone in front, and Fleury throwing himself across the crease to seal a 2-1 Cup-clinching win. That save is the snapshot that lived on posters and in living rooms for a decade. Later, during the back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017, he morphed from workhorse to partner, sharing the net with the emerging Matt Murray and still delivering massive moments when needed.
Then came the twist that could’ve flattened a lesser career — exposure in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Vegas grabbed him, and Fleury didn’t just survive; he became the face of an instant contender. The Golden Knights sprinted to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final in their first year, setting a new standard for expansion, while Fleury carried the net and much of the story. In 2021, he earned the William M. Jennings Trophy and the Vezina as the league’s top goaltender — the individual nod that had eluded him in Pittsburgh when the spotlight was usually shared with the team’s stars up front.
A brief stop in Chicago followed, then a steady landing in Minnesota. With the Wild, he was a mentor and still a gamer, pushing them into the postseason and, finally, shaking hands at center ice against the team — Vegas — that had once represented his reinvention. When that series ended 3-2 in Game 6 back in May, he stepped off the ice as a player for the last time. Or so it seemed.
That’s why this Penguins cameo matters. It’s not about stats or standings. It’s about place. Fleury’s nickname — “Flower” — wasn’t just a play on his name; it was a pretty good read on his presence. He lightened rooms that could get heavy, made rookies loosen up, pulled pranks, took the blame when it was his and the spotlight when nobody else wanted it. Pittsburgh didn’t just watch Fleury grow up. It grew with him.
The arena on Sept. 27 will feel familiar, but this night will have a different rhythm. The pregame stick taps will be louder. The crowd will lean into warmups. And when he skates out to the crease for that one period against Columbus, it won’t matter what the scoreboard says. It’s a game that lets everyone exhale and say thanks out loud.
The Penguins haven’t announced anything beyond the PTO and the plan for a single period, and they don’t need to. A preseason dress rehearsal is the right frame for something like this — official enough to count in hearts, unofficial enough to keep the record books tidy. It reflects how the league and its stars have evolved: you can be fiercely competitive for two decades and still make room for a human moment at the end.
Fleury’s numbers with the Penguins alone could justify this kind of sendoff. But his broader career arc is what makes it resonate. He bridged eras and styles — from the clutch-and-grab days to skill and speed, from workhorse starter to agile tandem piece, from franchise face to expansion catalyst. He adapted without losing the part of his game that made him fun to watch: the reflex glove, the pop-up recoveries, the belief that every scramble could be a save if you never quit on the puck.
There’s also the way he reframed being a goalie in a hockey town. In Pittsburgh, goaltending was often the battleground where every armchair coach parked their takes. Fleury took the heat, took the jokes, and kept showing up. When he finally lifted that Cup in 2009, it settled a lot of old arguments. When he shared the crease during the later runs, it taught a new lesson about roles and respect.
What happens after Sept. 27? Fleury has already said it: he remains retired. The PTO ends, the Penguins roll into their season with their current depth chart, and he heads back to family life — which might be the only net tough enough to keep him out of the blue paint for good. If the organization wants to celebrate him again down the line — a number retirement, a franchise hall of fame night — that’s a conversation for another day. For now, this one is for the people who filled the building and the player who filled the moment.
He’s admitted the abruptness of the end surprised him, even after 22 seasons. That’s the thing about careers like his: they feel permanent while they’re happening. Then you blink and the masks have changed, the pads have shrunk, and the kid who arrived with the big grin is a dad showing rookies where to line up for stretch. The game moves. The legacy stays put.
For the record keepers, the headline artifacts are all there: 575 wins, 1,051 games, three Cups, a Vezina, a Jennings, a trail of team records in Pittsburgh, plus an expansion fairy tale in Vegas. For the rest of us, it’s a few snapshots. The 2009 save on Lidstrom. The gold-and-black pads beside the big names on the wall. The easy laugh at practice. The helmet toss after a series win. The lap around the rink one last time this September.
Career highlights worth remembering:
- 2003: Drafted first overall by Pittsburgh, a rare feat for a goalie in the modern era.
- 2009: Backstops the Penguins to a Stanley Cup, capped by the last-second Game 7 save in Detroit.
- 2016–2017: Key part of back-to-back Penguins titles, embracing a tandem dynamic as the roster evolved.
- 2017: Selected by Vegas in the NHL Expansion Draft, quickly becoming the franchise’s first star.
- 2018: Leads the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.
- 2021: Wins the Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings Trophy with Vegas.
- 2025 (May): Ends a 22-season career with Minnesota after a first-round series against Vegas.
- 2025 (Sept.): Signs a PTO with Pittsburgh to practice and play one preseason period as a farewell.
When the puck drops against Columbus, the box score will read like any other exhibition. Somewhere in the stands a kid will watch a franchise legend slide his pad across the crease and understand, maybe for the first time, why goaltenders sometimes wave to the crowd after the horn. Some goodbyes don’t fit on a podium. They need a sheet of ice, a crease, and a city that still knows how to cheer.
