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Report: Robin Lehner to sign five-year extension with Golden Knights

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - SEPTEMBER 14: Goaltender Robin Lehner #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights looks on in the third period of Game Five of the Western Conference Final of the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Place on September 14, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
Robin Lehner is staying in Vegas for the long haul. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

A twist of the knife.

As expected, Robin Lehner has reached a five-year, $25-million extension to stay with the Vegas Golden Knights, TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports.

The agreement, which is expected to be officially announced soon, leaves Vegas with an extremely talented netminder at a reasonable price, while also clouding the future for the face of the franchise, Marc-Andre Fleury.

Lehner was acquired at the trade deadline and quickly emerged as the preferred option between the two netminders. He handled the bulk of the carries in the Golden Knights’ run to the Western Conference final, starting 16 games compared to four from Fleury, while also outperforming his counterpart statistically.

Fleury is slated to earn $7 million in each of the next two seasons, which means the Golden Knights have $12 million sworn to the position at this time. While the expectation might be that Fleury will be moved, it is a crowded goaltending market this summer and few teams, if any, will be eager to take on his bloated salary.

Most teams are in the process of cutting salary to cover for losses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which could leave the Golden Knights without an option for Fleury, and without the opportunity to optimize their lineup.

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