NHL Rumors: Latest Buzz on Alex Pietrangelo, Taylor Hall, Marc-Andre Fleury

Marc-Andre Fleury spent the first 13 years of his storied NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins before the Vegas Golden Knights grabbed him during the 2017 expansion draft. 

Now a reunion with the club that made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2003 may be on the table. 

Fleury has a desire to remain a starting goaltender, but the five-year, $25 million extension Vegas gave netminder Robin Lehner seems to have ended that opportunity in the desert. Pittsburgh isn't in need of a starter, either, after trading Matt Murray to the Ottawa Senators to move Tristan Jarry up the depth chart. But the team does need a consistent backup, and the location remains a favorite of Fleury. 

According to The Athletic's Josh Yohe and Rob Rossi, some of Fleury's former Penguins teammates have already reached out to gauge his interest in a return: 

"Fleury told those players he would welcome a return and that finding a place where his wife is comfortable raising their three children is a top priority. Though they loved Las Vegas and are doing research on other cities where Fleury believes he could land, Fleury has repeatedly referred to Pittsburgh 'as home for us' in messages with former teammates.

"There is 'a lot of interest in Fleury,' multiple league sources said. However, people around the NHL believe the Vegas-Fleury relationship has soured to the point that Golden Knights are finding it difficult to trade him. Fleury’s contract contains a clause that allows him to block a trade to 10 teams, and it is believed he can update that list on the first day of the new league year, which is Friday. Fleury wants to trust the management of his next team, one league source said. Though they picked Murray over him a few years ago, Fleury still holds [GM Jim] Rutherford and coach Mike Sullivan in high regard—and any misgivings would have been alleviated by his ties to Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux and captain Sidney Crosby."

Trading Fleury and his $7 million cap hit over the next two years would also help Vegas capture one its key free agent targets in Alex Pietrangelo. 

While it looked like the St. Louis Blues would try to keep their 40-point scoring defenseman, all hope of re-signing Pietrangelo ended when the Blues instead added Torey Krug on a seven-year, $45.5 million deal. 

TSN's Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun note the Knights are "clearly the front-runner" to land Pietrangelo. The defenseman was recently in Vegas with his wife to meet with the front office. Most importantly, LeBrun said there are no other team visits scheduled for Pietrangelo at this time. 

The top remaining defenseman in free agency is Vegas' to lose. Now it just has to win him over. 

When it comes to perhaps the second-most desired free agent in Taylor Hall, Dreger said the forward has recently cut his list of suitors, but is considering both short- and long-term deals at this point. 

"Taylor Hall knows his future is at stake here so he is going to take as much time as is required to ultimately make his decision," Dreger added on his Insider Trading series. 

One of the teams reportedly offering a short-term deal is the Boston Bruins, who just saw Krug land in St. Louis.