Fleury staying because of Palffy?

[wildboy26]

Palffy retiring opened up some cap room. They can now pay Fleury his bonuses that he seems certain to get. Regardless what they say I believe that is why they decided to keep Fleury. Fleury should send Palffy a thank you card.

[charlio lemieux]

Jocelyn Thibault (G) - Hip surgery, sidelined indefinitely - IR


Guess it has nothing to do with Thibault being gone.

[wildboy26]

Guess it has nothing to do with Thibault being gone.

They already had moved him above Thibault IMO, notice how they were playing him over Thibault even before he was hurt. We all know with Fleury it came down to money, if they didnt mind the money, they would take him over Thibault in a heartbeat with the way both have played this year.

[charlio lemieux]

They already had moved him above Thibault IMO, notice how they were playing him over Thibault even before he was hurt.
I think you just proved my point. If they had already decided to go with Fleury, then money wasn't the reason they kept him. It was the fact he is a better goalie. The only reason this is even in the news is because his eligibility to earn the bonus kicks in at 25 games played, and the circumstances of his demotion last NHL season.
It had been my understanding, as you pointed out, that he was the #1 guy in Pittsburg and was here to stay, but this was made clear almost two months ago. Losing Thibault indefinately, only solidified that decision.

Updated: Nov. 28, 2005, 7:22 PM ET
Struggling Penguins recall FleuryAssociated Press

PITTSBURGH -- Marc-Andre Fleury, the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NHL draft, was recalled from the minors Monday by the Pittsburgh Penguins and is expected to become their starting goaltender.

The Penguins, last in the Atlantic Division, play the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night after losing both games on a Florida road trip last week and five of their last seven. Fleury has been the best goalie in the AHL this season, going 10-0-2 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 1.57 goals-against average and .939 save percentage. He was with the Penguins for two short stints earlier this season, going 1-1-1 with a 3.40 GAA.

Until now, the Penguins have held off bringing up Fleury because he could earn up to $3 million in performance bonuses -- a hefty sum for a franchise that owner-player Mario Lemieux estimates will lose $7 million this season despite a sharp attendance increase.

But with the Penguins near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings despite significantly upgrading their roster last summer, general manager Craig Patrick apparently believes the club can't wait any longer to find a reliable goaltender.

They had already decided to eat any bonuses that Fleury would make, back in November. Even with a projected 7 million dollar loss.
Now my math may be slightly off because I rounded off the figures, but it appears that Pittsburg salaries, with Palffy, would have still been under 32 million dollars. So there was/is lots of Cap room.

I found his bonus structure.
From ESPN.com
Jan. 30, 2004
Despite going back to juniors, Fleury still could earn the contract bonuses he missed out on this season. His bonuses are capped at $8 million during the $3.72 million, three-year contract he signed last year.

To have earned the extra $3 million this season, Fleury needed to reach two of six standards: a 3.25 goals-against average, .890 save percentage, 20 victories, four shutouts, 1,800 minutes played and a top-five finish in the Calder Trophy voting.

Right now he has these stats:

3.23 GAA
.899 Save %
5 Wins
0 Shutouts
1357 Minutes played
Ovechkin, Crosby, Svatos, Prucha, Phaneuf, Miller, Lundqvist are all well ahead of Fleury for the Calder race. So no top 5 in Calder votes.

Now assuming the standards are the same: The loss of Palffy will probably not help Fleury's GAA or save percentage. It certainly will not help the team win more games. The only standard he is sure to reach is the minutes played.
I would have to say the odds are less than 50/50 he will get his bonus.
His best chance has got to be his save %.

[wildboy26]

I do think Fleury has a chance to reach one of the SV% or GAA% in order to get reach the neccessary 2nd bonus stanard to get his multi-million bonus. I think it will be 50-50 to whether he reaches one of the other though. Should make for an interesting subplot. I sort of hope he doesnt in a way since hate to see Pittsburg go deeper in the debt. On the other hadn it is hard to cheer against Fleury playing well. He seems like a good kid, my heart still breaks for him for that World junior debacle goal.