Golden Knights GM speaks to Fleury finding out about trade on Twitter and why he made the move

News of Marc-Andre Fleury's trade from the Vegas Golden Knight to the Chicago Blackhawks rocked the hockey world Tuesday. It wasn't even necessarily the trade, but the fact that Vegas got very little in return and that Fleury found out about the trade on Twitter. Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon has now addressed that with members of the media, and says he first told Fleury about the possibility of an exchange during their exit meeting at the end of the season.

"These were conversations that came with Marc-Andre and myself at our exit meetings. At that time, I told Marc that I couldn't say for sure what we would do with our goaltending for the upcoming year."

McCrimmon went on to say that he never calls a player about a trade before the official call with the league is completed, but the news of Fleury's trade leaked on Twitter before he had a chance to get the call done.

"We can't contact a player and let them know they've been traded without a trade callIt all leaks out," said McCrimmon. "It just seems to. It's not lack of regard for the player.»

McCrimmon said he told Fleury and his agent about team's that were interested in acquiring him earlier this month and Chicago was among them. He added he and Fleury have spoken "several times" about a possible trade over the last few weeks.

As for why he decided to trade one of his goaltenders, McCrimmon said neither Fleury nor Robin Lehner complained of their set up this past season. However, he didn't feel it would work again and the team needed a clear number one netminder.

"He was the most popular player I've ever seen in sports. He was the face of the franchise," McCrimmon said regarding Fleury.

"He's had a tremendous impact on our organization. He's had a tremendous impact on our city."

McCrimmon admits Fleury wanted to stay with Vegas, but he added he needs to put the best possible team on the ice and having cap space to do that is very important.

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