Chicago Blackhawks: Did Robin Lehner not know he was being traded?

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 27: Robin Lehner #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks follows the action against the New York Islanders at the United Center on December 27, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 27: Robin Lehner #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks follows the action against the New York Islanders at the United Center on December 27, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks traded goalie Robin Lehner to the Golden Knights on Monday. After the trade, Lehner tweeted something interesting.

The Chicago Blackhawks signed Robin Lehner in the offseason for $5,000,000 AAV to compete for the starting job against Corey Crawford. I believe the two were dead even, maybe Lehner even edging Crawford out. I guess tie goes to the veteran?

Lehner started off the season hot. Crawford struggled a lot early on. The issue with Lehner was him losing four of his last five starts. That might have changed the tide for Stan Bowman when he picked a goalie to be traded.

Crawford played two great games back-to-back. The Blackhawks beat the Predators 2-1 off of Crawford’s amazing performance. The second game they lost 2-1 against the Stars.

Overall, Lehner had the better season by far. Also, Lehner is younger, was a top-five goalie in 2019, and isn’t injury prone. Crawford used to be a top goalie but injuries have derailed his career. It’s safe to assume the Blackhawks will be pushing to keep Crawford in the summer now that they have no one left.

With under an hour left before the end of the trade deadline, Lehner tweeted this:

Nice calm day in St. Louis. Anything special going on today on Twitter?

“Nice calm day in St. Louis. Anything special going on today on Twitter?.”

It seemed like from there, Lehner wasn’t being traded. Lehner has been known to troll the media on Twitter though. Was he trolling everyone? Or did he not know he was being traded?

Thanks twitter for letting me know where my life moves on next. Your a good friend. See you soon Vegas.

I ask if he didn’t know because of a tweet he posted at 4:25 PM EST. The quote that stood out was “Thanks Twitter for letting me know where my life moves on next.”

Putting the grammar aside, this tweet confused me. There were Blackhawks’ fans tweeting saying that he’d return in the summer and sign a long-term deal with the Blackhawks then. I don’t think that’s happening. In fact, Lehner offered the Blackhawks a deal that was reportedly cheaper than the one he signed in the summer.

So what does Lehner mean by “Thanks Twitter for letting me know where my life moves on next.”?

Maybe Lehner didn’t know he was being traded until he saw it on Twitter. There have been stories of players not knowing that they’ve been traded or cut until seeing it for themselves on social media.

If that’s the way Bowman was playing ball with Lehner, that’s a horrible thing to do. Bowman had a great talent in Lehner and traded him away for a disrespectful second-round pick and Malcolm Subban.

It’s frustrating to see that Bowman still has a job in Chicago. There need to be big changes made in the offseason. Changes that see Bowman and Jeremy Colliton out of the city for good.

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