Ron Hextall has never said that bringing in a new goaltender is a priority for this offseason.
He's also never said that he would rule out doing it.
It could be that we're about to find out just how far he's willing to go to make that happen.
Vegas stunned the hockey world Tuesday when it traded Marc-Andre Fleury to Chicago for a minor-league winger who has no particular future in the game. That would be the, uh, fabled Mikael Hakkarainen.
Oh, Vegas also got $7 million in salary-cap space, which the Golden Knights presumably will invest in the free-agent market when it opens Wednesday at noon.
Fleury, who broke into the NHL with the Penguins and won three Stanley Cups here before going to Vegas in the 2017 expansion draft, reportedly was caught completely off-guard by the trade -- never mind that Golden Knights GM Kelly MCCrimmon contends that he informed Fleury of Chicago's interest in him July 12 -- and is said to be assessing his future, mostly because he'd rather not uproot his family from Nevada.
If that would be necessary, though, acquaintances say he's made it clear that Pittsburgh would be his destination of choice, which is no surprise.
After all, he spent more than a decade here and forged strong bonds, personal and professional, with guys like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
Surely, those guys -- and much of a fanbase that seems to adore Fleury even more than it did when he was playing here -- would welcome his return.
It's quite possible that Hextall, despite his repeated expressions of confidence in Tristan Jarry, would like to have him, too.
Of course, that's the easy part.
Assuming the Blackhawks couldn't sell Fleury on playing for them -- and they could make a pretty compelling case, with a great city and upgraded roster to bolster their argument -- and that he doesn't make a irreversible retirement announcement, Chicago presumably would look to trade him.
(Because hey, you can't lose a Mikael Hakkarainen and have nothing to show for it.)
And while the Penguins would be a logical trading partner, there would be a couple of hurdles to clear.
Big ones.
And they almost certainly would be connected
Start with cap space. The Penguins don't have much of it, and would have to seriously alter their roster to clear space for Fleury, who has one year remaining on his contract.
Assuming they wouldn't want to take on the whole $7 million, the Penguins could negotiate with Chicago to retain some of his salary.
Trouble is, that would bump up the Blackhawks' trade demands, and the Penguins simply don't have enough quality prospects in their pipeline that they can casually include one in a trade -- especially if it would be for a guy who might only be around for one season -- without feeling it in coming years.
If Hextall would determine that adding a goalie of Fleury's caliber is all that separates the Penguins from serious Stanley Cup contention, even with the changes acquiring him might necessitate in other parts of the lineup -- a perspective that seems unduly optimistic -- it would be hard to justify not doing everything possible to make it happen.
But if he sincerely believes that Jarry's miserable showing for much of the Penguins' first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders was a hiccup and not a portent, sacrificing a big slice of the team's cap space -- and of its future -- would not be prudent.
Regardless of whether he ever pulls on a Penguins sweater again, Fleury will remain one of the most popular figures in franchise history, and a Hall of Famer in waiting.
Should Fleury inform Chicago that he will not play there, Hextall just might have to decide how much of the future he wants to sacrifice in an effort to recapture the past.
