I dont think the Penguins thought of Fleury that way, the rules were designed that they could only protect one goalie.
- jimbro83
The sad truth is that Fleury was bundled with a 2020 2nd to make sure he (and his contract) is taken, not that the 2nd was used to make sure no goalie of us was taken.
Regarding defensemen, you could protect either 3 or 4 of them, so basically everyone on the Vegas-roster is a 4th/5th defenseman (="not that important")... and they still won the Pacific and Western Conference.