Vincent Lecavalier to be traded?

I thought this was BS made up by Eklund and all the Hab's fans that love this guy so much, but now Dregger, McKenzie and a whole whack of other hockey reporters are saying that it's not an 'if', it's a 'when'. They call the Tampa Bay franchise one of the worst run franchises in the last decade and wonder if they even know what market value for a Lecavalier is.

His no trade doesn't kick in until July 1st, and it appears Vinny is one of several to be sick of the entire organization.

Montreal will absolutely be his landing place apparently, although, what they would have to give up to get him - and what his salary will do to their cap - are two destructive elements to this equation.

Next up: Martin St.Louis. Once the pieces are in place for Vinny's move, expect him to be next.

Then call up Tampa Bay owners and ask them this for me: "How did you Diddle everything up soooooo badly? How."

hahaha, good call Heater.

TB is going down in flames! And quite frankly, this should serve as a lightning rod to ANYONE with too much freakin' $$ on their hands that being rich doesn't mean you know D**K about running a sports franchise, a.k.a. a profitable business...

what a bunch of tools! LOL

Listening to the guys on TSN the other night, Lecavalier is not interersted in moving to MTL. He apparently has a list and MTL is not on it. They also mentioned that due to his contract that it is going to be hard for Tampa to move him. It would be nice to have him here but I doubt Murray would want to spend that much money and be locked in for a long period of time.

Cronenbergfan wrote:hahaha, good call Heater.

TB is going down in flames! And quite frankly, this should serve as a lightning rod to ANYONE with too much freakin' $$ on their hands that being rich doesn't mean you know D**K about running a sports franchise, a.k.a. a profitable business...

what a bunch of tools! LOL

Seriously, I almost feel badly for them (almost).

ElliottRules wrote:Listening to the guys on TSN the other night, Lecavalier is not interersted in moving to MTL. He apparently has a list and MTL is not on it. They also mentioned that due to his contract that it is going to be hard for Tampa to move him. It would be nice to have him here but I doubt Murray would want to spend that much money and be locked in for a long period of time.

McKenzie said he had an intense fetish for the Habs. I have a hard time believing he wouldn't to be honest, but it might be a Western Canadian team. Crazy Dung this. I'm surprised this is all (apparently) going down.

Oops, they both just said on TSN that the only untouchable on Ottawa was Alfredsson.

And yes, they even named Heatley. Interesting.

habs fans are just Diddle. When the Lightning plays the Habs, they boo Lecavalier and cheer for St. louis. Now that there is an opportunity to land Lecavalier, they are sporting wood.

From what some say, Lecavalier is fine in Tampa (why else would he have re-signed all those times?) and does not want to be traded, and some in management have reassured him he would not be. However, the others have said they are considering moving him and his contract.

Tampa has some great players, it's a shame what is happening to them. They were essentially a dynasty a few years ago. The economy and poor management have a lot to do with this downfall. The sad thing is there's a couple of Canadian investors who would be thrilled to own the team and move them to a Canadian city, but we all know how that is going.

Instead, they're going to sell off their stars only to tank yet again and draft another top star (Tavares/Hedman) and keep them there for years while their career sours. You can add Florida to the list of teams too.

504Heater wrote:Oops, they both just said on TSN that the only untouchable on Ottawa was Alfredsson.

And yes, they even named Heatley. Interesting.

Is that speculation or actual inside information?

Probably a little of both. Those guys have cred, but Ottawa, especially, is very tight for info (allegedly). I think it's an assumption that Alfredsson is the only "untouchable" (assuming off the roster). I would be very hesitant to move any prospects (considering they would be crucial in a rebuild).

ElliottRules wrote:Is that speculation or actual inside information?

Speculation.

The rumored offer from Montreal: Tomas Plekanec, Chris Higgins, prospect P.K. Subban, Josh Gorges and a package of draft picks including more than one first-round pick going to Tampa.

That is a hell of a lot to give up.

Won't solve anything though - the team will still suck and find a way to ruin what they got. You need to move the team now. Imagine Quebec City Lightning? The rivalry intensifying now that the other Quebec team has the highly enamored Lecavalier and St. Louis?

Vinny Lecavalier is one of the leagues highly respected players, and the league should listen to him. He is not happy with the team. Losing him would ruin the franchise and not even relocation might save that. Vinny would be a huge player to market a team in a new city. The NHL would find it hard to build a fanbase in a new city without a franchise player.

Jesus!! IF that's the offer, EEEK is an understatement... Not to mention Gainey has what 11 RFA/UFA's on his watch this July...

I say bring the lightning to Canada as Dash is saying... Lecavalier on Canadian soil is a big thing and these jokers at the helm in TB haven't a CLUE what they are doing...

I'm hoping this happens, it'll crush the Habs' cap.

Any reasonable GM would ask for much more than what they offered though. Who cares about Higgins and Plekanec really? If I'm giving up a long-term signed Vinny Lecav to a team that will do anything to get him- I'm asking for AT LEAST Max Pacioretty, PK Subban, and a signed Komisarek, plus a few draft picks.

We're talking about Vinny Lecavalier, people.


He doesn't want to be in that kind of spotlight anyways. I can't see it happening.

Jordo wrote:
He doesn't want to be in that kind of spotlight anyways. I can't see it happening.

Possibly not. I'm interested to see where he goes. Columbus is a team that can play for him - very hard. They played for Richards and barely lost apparently.

If I'm Columbus and Vinny's on the market - I acquire him. No matter what it takes (no Rick Nash though).

504Heater wrote:

Jordo wrote:
He doesn't want to be in that kind of spotlight anyways. I can't see it happening.

Possibly not. I'm interested to see where he goes. Columbus is a team that can play for him - very hard. They played for Richards and barely lost apparently.

If I'm Columbus and Vinny's on the market - I acquire him. No matter what it takes (no Rick Nash though).

even filatov?

I see Montreal giving up the most for him, only because they need that French-speaking superstar.

I anticipate they covet him more than any other player. I'm sorry, if I am VCav and I see a team that has such a enormous boner for me, I'll go.

MTL cannot afford Vinnie, salary wise or talent-wise. Their best players are UFA this summer, I can't see Tampa interested. Unless They ship Markov, which won't happen.

Someone tell Murray to give the Lightening a call. I'm sure we can make a deal in our favour :D I used to be on the St. Louis bandwagon but now that the season is lost maybe we can get Stamkos? It sure wouldn't surprise me.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Someone tell Murray to give the Lightening a call. I'm sure we can make a deal in our favour :D I used to be on the St. Louis bandwagon but now that the season is lost maybe we can get Stamkos? It sure wouldn't surprise me.

I'd offer Spezza, Vermette, Foligno, Lee our 2 firsts and a good prospect or two for Lecavalier, St. Louis, Halpern and their 1st.

They save millions and get good players and we get a "cornerstone" player.

As much as I like Lecavalier that contract is monstrous. Does it make financial sense to do this? I'd rather let Montreal take him and make a smaller deal for St. Louis.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:As much as I like Lecavalier that contract is monstrous. Does it make financial sense to do this? I'd rather let Montreal take him and make a smaller deal for St. Louis.

It's only 2 million more monstrous than Spezza's per year. Maybe you move Heatley in a separate deal to cut his salary and even things out?

I think Lecavalier is a better bet to build a franchise around than either one. That's a huge intangible value right there along with keeping him out of Montreal.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:As much as I like Lecavalier that contract is monstrous. Does it make financial sense to do this? I'd rather let Montreal take him and make a smaller deal for St. Louis.

That contract is just stupid. He's coming off of major shoulder surgery and it's the 3rd time he's injured that shoulder. There are whispers that they know his shoulder is on borrowed time and he won't see the next 6 years of NHL playing time let alone the next 11.

As much as I like Vinny trading for him puts us in the same position as we are with Spezza. A lot of money for a guy who just won't win us a tonne of games.

Give me a Stud D-man and I'll trade Spezza otherwise it's not worth it.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:As much as I like Lecavalier that contract is monstrous. Does it make financial sense to do this? I'd rather let Montreal take him and make a smaller deal for St. Louis.

It's only 2 million more monstrous than Spezza's per year. Maybe you move Heatley in a separate deal to cut his salary and even things out?

I think Lecavalier is a better bet to build a franchise around than either one. That's a huge intangible value right there along with keeping him out of Montreal.

Actually I think it's only 750K more per year. But I believe what he means by monstrous is that it is a contract that spans 11 years.

Bass Destruction (dirtyno wrote:Actually I think it's only 750K more per year. But I believe what he means by monstrous is that it is a contract that spans 11 years.

I understand that part too. It is, in fact, 2 million. The cap hit is about 750k, as you mention.

It would be a good idea for any GM to explore the pros and cons of trading for Lecavalier. He's a special player.

Dawg's Wife wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:As much as I like Lecavalier that contract is monstrous. Does it make financial sense to do this? I'd rather let Montreal take him and make a smaller deal for St. Louis.

That contract is just stupid. He's coming off of major shoulder surgery and it's the 3rd time he's injured that shoulder. There are whispers that they know his shoulder is on borrowed time and he won't see the next 6 years of NHL playing time let alone the next 11.

As much as I like Vinny trading for him puts us in the same position as we are with Spezza. A lot of money for a guy who just won't win us a tonne of games.

Give me a Stud D-man and I'll trade Spezza otherwise it's not worth it.

As usual you're bang-on. Lecavalier's contract was just another mistake made by those goofballs in Tampa.

Lecavalier is one of those players who transcends the game. He's big, he can skate, he can score, he defends well, he gives 100% every night. He's like a bigger, perhaps more skilled, faster Daniel Alfredsson. And we all know how we feel about Alfie.

To Montreal, they all look at Lecavalier the way they used to look at Maurice Richard. A French - speaking, Quebec native with sick hockey skills.

As far as contracts go, yup, he'll take up a ton of cap space, but when you look at who will be going the other way (no way a team without the depth of Montreal could do it) then it doesn't matter as much.