Knights goalies hope to stay together for 2021-22 season

Robin Lehner received a gift before starting the Golden Knights’ must-win Game 6 against the Montreal Canadiens: Pictures from Marc-Andre Fleury’s two daughters.

The two love arts and crafts and writing letters — Fleury’s wife posted one on Instagram from 5-year-old Scarlett during the playoffs — and wanted to send their father’s goalie partner some support before the most important game of the season.

The gesture exemplified the bond that formed between Fleury and Lehner this year. There was no controversy, only cooperation between two goaltenders that shared the Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals allowed in the regular season.

There are questions as to whether the partnership can last. The pair cost $12 million against the salary cap, making them the second-most expensive tandem in the NHL behind Montreal’s. The Knights, who are projected to be $5.26 million under the cap to start the offseason, could move one to bring in additional skaters.

General manager Kelly McCrimmon said Saturday the team will discuss the position’s future later in the offseason. Fleury said he wants he and Lehner to return.

“I hope so,” Fleury said. “Our relationship grew over the season. We get along very good, and obviously, as goalies that’s something you strive for.”

Both goaltenders had success alternating starts when both were healthy.

Fleury is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, the award for the season’s best goalie, and will find out if he wins Tuesday. Lehner, a 2019 Vezina finalist, also had a strong campaign. He is 16-4-2 with the Knights since being acquired at the 2020 trade deadline.

Fleury has one year left on his contract, which is worth $7 million against the cap, and said he hopes to finish his career in Las Vegas. Lehner has four years remaining on his deal with a $5 million annual cap hit.

“(Fleury) is as much of a legend for me as he is for you guys,” Lehner said. “Between intermissions, before games, after games, we’ve been our biggest supporters, both of us.”

It was a luxury for the Knights to have two No. 1 goaltenders during a condensed regular season when they were playing almost every-other night. It allowed them to keep both fresh.

The team will have to decide if it can afford to do that again with a normal schedule. But there’s no doubt the two goalies made it work.

“It was obviously a blessing this year,” said coach Pete DeBoer, who called the decision “above his pay grade.” “Next year is a different story. We’re not in those unique circumstances anymore.”

Martinez played on broken foot

Defenseman Alec Martinez revealed Saturday he broke his foot with two games remaining in the regular season and played through it.

Despite his injury, Martinez never missed a playoff game and still leads the NHL in blocked shots this postseason by 20. He credited the team’s doctors and trainers for taking care of him each day.

“I was getting wheeled around a lot,” Martinez said.

The 33-year-old now has a chance to heal up and think about his future. He’s heading into unrestricted free agency and he’s likely earned a raise from his previous $4 million cap hit.

“To be quite honest, I haven’t thought about it that much,” Martinez said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Contract notes

■ Right wing Reilly Smith is about to enter the last season of his contract and said he hasn’t talked about an extension with the Knights. His current deal carries a $5 million cap hit.

“If I was able to set up a deal myself, it would just be to finish out the rest of my career here in Vegas, but I know there’s a lot of pieces and it’s not that simple all the time,” Smith said. “I’m sure I’ll try to get a little more clarity about that situation this summer.”

■ Left wing Mattias Janmark, who was acquired at the trade deadline, is heading into unrestricted free agency. He said he wasn’t expecting anything to happen contract-wise after being dealt but he’s open to staying.

“I loved every minute of it here,” Janmark said. “I can see myself playing here longer, but it’s a little more complex than that.”

■ Center Patrick Brown, who was the Silver Knights’ first captain and played 12 playoff games for the Golden Knights, is another unrestricted free agent. He said he’d “love to be back” and contribute to the organization’s success. He also said his goal was to be an NHL player.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.