Penguins’ Dubas hoping to honour past, build future with Fleury signing

Now, as the sun sets on their era of the NHL, general manager Kyle Dubas is hoping to use the legends of yesterday to reinforce the stars of tomorrow.

The Penguins signed Fleury to a professional tryout contract, giving the 40-year-old one last chance to be embraced by the city with a pre-season appearance.

“The thought process started last October. For me, just seeing the amount of love that the fans have for Marc-Andre, and then his enthusiasm in return for the city of Pittsburgh,” Dubas said Thursday at Penguins training camp, “I just thought this would be a great idea, for him to be able to have this kind of full-circle moment and allow the fans the chance to properly salute him in a Penguins uniform rather than a different uniform.”

Though he won’t be suiting up for regular-season action for the Penguins, Fleury will practise with the team on Sept. 26 and take part in their exhibition game on Sept. 27 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, donning the jersey he wore for 13 seasons one more time.

More than just a moment to revel in nostalgia, however, Dubas said he sees the move as a learning opportunity for a team hoping to usher in a new era.

“There’s such a great history here, and part of it here for us is educating our younger group of players on that,” Dubas said. “So now Marc’s gonna have a chance, for two days, to be around Tristan (Jarry) and Arturs Silovs and Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov and Filip Larsson, and I don’t know how to calculate the value of that, but I observed his impact on the younger players at the (2025 IIHF World Championship) and it was immense. And that was in two weeks and he played half the games. He’s just awesome.”

Fleury holds nearly every goaltending record in franchise history, including games played (691), wins (375) and shutouts (44). He also helped the team to three Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016 and 2017.

He suited up for the Minnesota Wild last season, with teams around the league saluting Fleury as he entered their buildings one last time.

But while it was assumed his final game in Pittsburgh came last October, that just didn’t feel right to Dubas and the Penguins.

“It’s a chance for us to allow the fans to properly salute a very important figure in the team’s history one final time in a Penguins uniform. It’s a chance for him to feel that love one more time. It’s a chance, as I look at it, for our younger group to learn from him.”