However, with Fleury due to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, the Flames did not want to chance losing him without getting anything in return. Following the trade, Fleury said that any team looking to sign him to a new contract would have to pay him $7 million per year. In his autobiography, "Playing with Fire", Fleury claims that he was offered $16 million over four years by the Flames before the trade, and countered with an offer of $25 million over five years. Fleury made his debut for the Avalanche the day after the trade and was met with loud cheers from the Denver crowd. He scored a goal in a 4–3 loss to Edmonton, but also sprained his knee and missed the next two weeks. He had missed only seven games during his 11-year career in Calgary. He played in 15 regular-season games for the Avalanche, scoring 10 goals and 14 assists, and another 5 goals and 12 assists in 18 playoff games before the Avalanche were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals. The Avalanche chose not to re-sign Fleury, and he joined the New York Rangers on a three-year contract worth $21 million that included a club option for a fourth year at $7 million. He touched off a wave of anger on signing with the Rangers when he claimed he was unappreciated in Calgary, comments he later stated were directed at the Flames' owners and not the team's fans, who he said always supported him. Fleury's first year in Manhattan was a disappointment. He scored only 15 goals in 1999–2000, struggling under the pressure of trying to lead the Rangers into the playoffs and adapting to life in New York. After the season, he voluntarily entered a league-operated program that treats substance abuse and emotional problems, though he denied that either had any effect on his play. Fleury rebounded to score 30 goals in 2000–01 and participated in his seventh All-Star Game. He scored his 400th NHL goal on November 4, 2000, in a 5–2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Fleury was leading his team, and was fourth in the league, with 74 points in 62 games, when the Rangers announced that he had again entered the league's substance abuse program. The decision ended his season. Prior to the 2001–02 season Fleury said that he continued to struggle with substance abuse and had difficulty adapting to life in Manhattan after growing up in a Canadian prairie town of 1,500.