"I am happy for him," the Pittsburgh Penguins captain told The Athletic. "He's having a lot of fun, you can tell, and as a friend having played with him for a long time it's great to see him doing well. He's a great person who works really hard and he's a big part of his team's success right now."
Fleury will try to win the Stanley Cup for a third straight season, after back-to-back championships with Pittsburgh, starting with Game 1 against the Washington Capitals at Vegas on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Capitals series coverage | Stanley Cup Final schedule]
Fleury, who was selected No. 1 in the 2003 NHL Draft by the Penguins, played his first 13 seasons in Pittsburgh, winning 375 games and the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017) before he was left unprotected and was selected by the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.
"I think he was motivated for sure," Crosby said. "Goaltenders are strong mentally and competitive; you have to be in order to play the position. [Fleury] is the same, he believes in himself and loves the game. He wants to be there helping the team making the big saves. That's exactly what he's doing right now. They are playing some great hockey and he's making big saves."
