Marc-André Fleury's agent reveals how his trade to Maple Leafs was shockingly nixed in the final hour in 2022

Marc-Andre Fleury had an incredible record in the NHL. The veteran goalie recently hung up his skates after the Minnesota Wild were knocked out of the playoffs. However, a few years back, the Pittsburgh Penguins legend had a chance to tend the goal of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Fleury played the first thirteen seasons of his career with the Penguins before he was picked up by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017. After four Stanley Cup Finals appearances with both teams, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020.

During the 2021-22 season, with trade chatter surrounding him, Fleury made his way to Minnesota. As revealed by his agent Allen Walsh on the "Agent Provocateur" podcast, Fleury was linked to the Leafs. There was a done deal in place which was vetoed in the final moments by someone from Toronto's top brass.

"One day, about five days before the deadline, Kyle Dubas calls me and says, I just want to give you a heads-up," Walsh said on Saturday. "We have a deal with Chicago. We talked about a bunch of different things on that call, and at the end of the call, he said, 'Just one thing you should know, I got to go upstairs and get approval on this deal, like I do all deals, but I don't anticipate there being any issues at all.

"About two hours later, I get a call from Kyle Dubas, who is crestfallen. In his voice, I could tell that something is very wrong. He said, 'Allan, I don't know how to tell you this. I'm sorry. I went upstairs to get approval. His trade has been nixed. It's not happening. I tried. I believe in this deal. I wanted this deal to happen, and it's not happening anymore.'"

Walsh added that he was uncertain whether Fleury would've stayed with the Leafs.

"I don't know whether Flower would have re-signed with Toronto or not as a pending free agent that summer," Walsh said. "It was clearly the discussion about come in, play the rest of the season and playoffs, and both sides will get a test drive with each other."

Fleury eventually played for the Wild for the rest of his illustrious career. He finished his 21-year NHL career with a .912% save percentage with a 2.60 goals against average.

Marc-Andre Fleury's swan song with Team Canada appearance

Marc-Andre Fleury's final appearance in between the posts came as part of Team Canada's IIHF World Championship team. He was able to appear one last time beside his longtime teammate with the Penguins, Sidney Crosby. Together, the duo won three Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016 and 2017. After the Wild were eliminated, Fleury sought permission to join the team.

“This is so nice,” Fleury said on Wednesday, via The New York Times. “Me and Sid, we spent so many years together, so much time together, just talking about hockey, life. We won a lot together, too. It’s been a few years since we could really sit down and talk, spend some time together. It’s been perfect.

"I really thought I was done after we lost to Vegas. So, just to have one more chance to play? To keep going a little bit longer? I couldn’t turn that down. I’m glad Kyle called.”

Canada was eliminated in the quarterfinal stage of the tournament by Denmark after finishing first in the preliminary round. It capped off a historic career for Fleury.