Jeez, you'd think that all those years of signing "superstars" at the expense of the farm would have tought us something. Had it not been for a few lucky bounces we'd still be hearing 1940.
I'd rather take a medium term approach to build a team around Gabby and Hank. We appear to have our cupboards stocked going forward. Why throw it all away, dismantle the team to add a contract that under the current state of the NHL is bad by any measure. We still have big holes to plug. Let's wait and see how things shake out before screwing things up like the Knicks did under Thomas. They're still digging themselves out from that one.
$7.725M cap hit through 2020. We're taking $85M USD Ola.
And 2020. Nothing is indicating that we won't have a cap around 90-120m in 10 years. 7m then he is 40 will be more like 3-4m today.
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Originally Posted by Melrose_Jr.
I'm not following the logic of signing a player to an 11 year contract, then possibly trading him in the first year. Vinny and the team were obviously looking ahead when they signed the deal to a time when Stamkos and Hedman lead this iteration of the 'Bolts to their next Cup. I don't see any scenario where that changes within the time frame that's being discussed here.
I don't think LeCavalier will be traded. I would say that I don't think its "plausible".
But, that whole situation seems like a divorce waiting to happened. LeCavalier is in a situation that don't suit him well at all. He is too big and don't have enough agility to be a player who carries a team. Tampa have a lot of good things going for them -- but they are still probably 4-5 years away from contending. LeCav will be 34 then.
Then there is everything else, LeCav himself got to think about getting a new start. He is standing still there.
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And as for these trade proposals, I just don't know what to say. You wanna blow $7M because you think there's a problem down the middle? Sign Savard as a UFA next summer, end up with a better player and keep the team's current and future foundation in place.
Whats the odds on Boston resigning Marc Savard? You get your money back? They have not dumped Kessel+ to let him go -- at least I can't see it.
And is Marc Savard better then LeCavalier? I don't know. I love Savard -- but he is in a special situation in Boston.
I would rather take LeCav. He is fantastic on the PP. Definitely on par with Malkin on the PP. I just think he would make perfect sense on this team. He would make us a contender the coming 5 years. Gabby, LeCav and Hank.
Prospal-Dubinsky-Gabby
Drury-LeCav-Callahan
LeCav would score a lot on that 2nd line and our PP. Not on par with AO and co -- but we aren't paying him that type of money either. Then we are talking about Dubinsky, Staal, Grachev and two 1st + 9.5m per -- and those guys aren't moved all that often.
What I don't understand is why you'd commit to and build around an individual, then 14 months later, decide you may want to change course. This isn't Scott Gomez we're talking about. This is the guy who's the face of the franchise. Their success on and off the ice depends too heavily on this one player to talk about trading him IMO.
Some guys just cannot do that. This cannot be taught. Ovechkin, Crosby is one group while VLC may belong to Kovalev type. TB even bought out Prospal to let Vinny be the man. But if cannot do it, then it would be in best interest for both franchises to do the trade. They will get the Soldiers, we will get the Queen ( to compliment the King ).
why is everyone capitalizing the c in Lecavalier's name? it's not LeCavalier lol
anyway, personally I'm a huge fan of Vinny Lecavalier and would love to have him in Ranger blue, but only if it's for the right deal. We've already seen way too many times what happens when we trade a buncha kids for a more veteran player..
Edit: speaking of trading our kids, isn't it funny that we did that with Marc Savard and now we wanna bring him back by maybe doing the same thing (if we go after him before he hits UFA). idk maybe it's just a cycle the NYR will always go through haha
Lecavalier was barely a point per game player last season; why is it that so many are treating it like he's a top 5 player in the league still? He's not. Probably not even top 15. Definitely not worth the money, and he'd be Gomez or Drury Part II.
I know some one is going to come in here and take what I say and blow it out of proportion but...
Redden has been great this season. Not a 6.5 million dollar defenseman but hes been 5x better then Blowitzall this season.
Id keep Redden, I like the way hes been playing and am starting to come around on that signing...
With as bad as Rozsival has been playing, it would be stupid to trade Redden and keep Rozy. Redden has been playing as a top 4 defenseman and those are not easy to come by.
So do you want to trade Grachev and Redden for Lecavalier or not? I don't understand.
To get Lecavalier the Lightning would have to take Drury
s contract or Redden for that matter. With that said I doubt it. Drury has no trade and no one is going to take Redden since he has tons of yrs left
Lecavalier was barely a point per game player last season; why is it that so many are treating it like he's a top 5 player in the league still? He's not. Probably not even top 15. Definitely not worth the money, and he'd be Gomez or Drury Part II.
I think Gaborik, healthy, is a better player. Lecavalier has had two "elite" type seasons, and 8 average to good seasons. It's not surprising that he fell back to earth this season, although I'm sure the injury has played some part in it.
I think this team should stay as far away possible from him. If we didn't already have like 4 terrible contracts it might be worth considering, but that's not the case. If Sather has even considered it for a second that already has to be worrying
if we can open up the cap space, i'd rather spend it on a gamebreaker, i don't think vinny is a gamebreaker at this point in time. sure, he's banged up and could get back to that 90 point form, but its a huge risk to take, especially considering how many years he has left on his deal.
kovalchuk or bust. we definitely have the chips to trade for him. let's just hope the thrashers implode.
if we can open up the cap space, i'd rather spend it on a gamebreaker, i don't think vinny is a gamebreaker at this point in time. sure, he's banged up and could get back to that 90 point form, but its a huge risk to take, especially considering how many years he has left on his deal.
kovalchuk or bust. we definitely have the chips to trade for him. let's just hope the thrashers implode.
couldnt agree more if we can clear the space kovy is the way to go him and gaby on the same team is a dream come true
Don't see why we should be trading for anyone who earns this kind of money. Even a second line center would be an upgrade on what we have now. And considering we have basically 2 top 6 guys on this team, we should be looking for 2nd line guys anyway.
Oh, and for anyone who says that Vinny is not even a top-15 player anymore, you should see what he's playing with. For the most part it's been Alex Tanguay, that's a shell of his former self, and James Wright or Steve Downie.
Stamkos-Malone-St. Louis has been their top line for most of the year, and was their most successful combination until they were recently broken up.
Vinny is still a top-15 player in this league, he just needs to play with linemates that can actually do something offensively. The fact that he has 14 points in 17 games with the caliber of linemates that he's been playing with is a testament to how skilled he really is.
Oh, and for anyone who says that Vinny is not even a top-15 player anymore, you should see what he's playing with. For the most part it's been Alex Tanguay, that's a shell of his former self, and James Wright or Steve Downie.
Stamkos-Malone-St. Louis has been their top line for most of the year, and was their most successful combination until they were recently broken up.
Vinny is still a top-15 player in this league, he just needs to play with linemates that can actually do something offensively. The fact that he has 14 points in 17 games with the caliber of linemates that he's been playing with is a testament to how skilled he really is.
and possibly Mike Richards and Eric Staal are all presently at least as good or better, and that's only counting forwards. Yes I know he isn't playing with the greatest talent, but really good players don't need that to put up points.
if we can open up the cap space, i'd rather spend it on a gamebreaker, i don't think vinny is a gamebreaker at this point in time. sure, he's banged up and could get back to that 90 point form, but its a huge risk to take, especially considering how many years he has left on his deal.
kovalchuk or bust. we definitely have the chips to trade for him. let's just hope the thrashers implode.
This.
But MDZ cannot be traded no matter what.
Last edited by haveandare: 11-15-2009 at 02:30 PM.
The more I watch Vincent Lecavalier play this season, the more I start to wonder about his future with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
At some point over the next 12 months, he's got to decide how this is going to play out. Does he want to be a second-line, $10 million center in Tampa, or does he want to refresh his career elsewhere?
He wouldn't be easy to move given the cash, the term (11 years) and the yearly cap hit ($7.7 million), but I still think there's a market out there for him if he chooses to explore his options.
The three teams that come to mind are the Rangers, Kings and, of course, the Canadiens. New York doesn't have a No. 1 center, but it does have a coach in John Tortorella who brought out the best in Lecavalier during their years together in Tampa Bay (including winning a Cup together in 2004). And wouldn't it be nice for Marian Gaborik to have a center? The Rangers would need to move massive cash to make it work, but if it's a summer deal, it can be figured out in due time.
Hotstover Pierre LeBrun’s weekly ESPN blatherings included more rumblings that Vincent Lecavalier is unhappy in Tampa. I have no doubt Pierre is correct. Lecavalier simply does not trust Lightning management/ownership after everything that happened last year. No matter what anyone connected with that franchise says - number four was available for trade.
