Posted on: December 15, 2024, 06:16h.
Last updated on: December 15, 2024, 06:21h.
In the last season he played as an NHL goaltender, 2021-22, with the Vegas Golden Knights, Robin Lehner was seemingly on top of the world – 44 games started, 23 wins, 2.83 goals against average, and a .907 save percentage.
Five-Year, $25 Million Contract in 2020
He was a very good NHL goaltender, maybe not elite, but certainly good enough to backstop a contending team. In 2020 he had signed a five-year, $25 million contract extension with the Golden Knights. The Knights were up and coming, leading to their Stanley Cup win in 2023.
But Lehner’s career went off the rails. In 2018-19, he wrote in The Athletic about his battle with bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and drug and alcohol addiction. He decided at that time to seek help. In 2019 he was awarded the NHL’s Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given to a player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Bankruptcy Filing
Lehner wasn’t with the team when they hoisted the Cup in 2023, and this past September didn’t show up for Golden Knights’ training camp.
Lehner and his wife filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2022, according to reporting by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Last September a federal bankruptcy court granted an injunction to freeze Lehner’s assets.
Gambling and Luxury Lifestyle Expenses
In those documents, Aliya Growth Fund, a creditor, claimed they were worried they weren’t going to get the $4.8 million owed to them because Lehner and his wife were transferring money from their bank accounts to non-creditors, including shell companies tied to Dubai, Review-Journal reporting said. Court filings have detailed claims that Lehner wasn’t responding to lawyers involved in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
There were accounts of out-of-control spending, including allegations in the filing by a creditor about $1.5 million spent on vacations, gambling, and luxury items in 2022 after the couple’s bankruptcy filing.
This week, Lehner spoke with the Review-Journal about his bankruptcy, and allegations he had been incommunicado with the financial storm winds blowing.
I don’t need sympathy or anything; screw that,” he told the paper. “Bring up something that’s true and I can take it like a man. But everything is fake. No one has any idea what has happened to my family and my life after a lot of these things, and a lot of, obviously, people will see in the future what actually happened. But this is portraying me like I go AWOL and don’t answer anyone.”
No Cap Hit for Golden Knights
Lehner is reportedly in debt to creditors for $27.5 million, and told the Review-Journal he wasn’t sure his playing career was over.
The National Hockey League Players’ Association and the NHL agreed in October that Lehner’s salary wouldn’t be counted against the Vegas Golden Knights’ salary cap.
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