Left Wing Lock by Nick Rutherford: Is it Time For Vinny To Move On?

 Is it Finally Time for Vinny to Move on?

Vincent Lecavalier has been a hot topic of trade rumors seemly every season since he’s been in the NHL. The 29 year old Quebec native has never quite lived up to the lofty expectations placed upon him following the 1998 draft. He was the first player taken that year, this seemed to come with Gretzky like expectations, of a young player who would instantly save a failing franchise.

              

With only one season over 100 points and one other over 80 for his career, Lecavalier’s career hasn’t panned out the way he would’ve expected. He did however lead the Lightning to a Stanley Cup in 2004. While Vinny hasn’t quite become the first ballot hall of famer we all anticipated, he is still a very productive center with excellent playmaking ability. Tampa is a team many think could be a piece or two away from being a solid playoff team. I, however, disagree. I see a team that lacks identity, and needs to focus around growing its young core. Victor Hedman is a wonderful talent that will need some seasoning to become a star, Steve Stamkos is already a top 10 NHL scorer in only he second season in the league. Tampa also believes it might have a goalie of the future in Mike Smith. All these pieces considered, moving costly veterans like Lecavalier and St. Louis to expand on this young core of players seems like a great course of action. Players like Ryan Malone and Alex Tanguay could also fetch a decent pick or prospect from a playoff contending team.

              

When Vinny's name comes up in trade discussions two team always headline the list, the Montréal Canadians and the New York Rangers. Why not? These two teams for my money are the two teams with the worst roster construction in the NHL. It seems like every year these teams try the same formula: sign a bunch of overpriced free agents that don’t fit in the role of the team, then trade for a big contract in hopes of bailing yourself out.

Vinny Suitors:

Montreal: Lecavalier has long been seen as Canada’s golden boy. I can’t see a place that I’d rather see Vinny play than in Montreal. As I mentioned previously, the Habs have a terrible roster construction full of player who either make way too much money, can’t play anymore, or hate the team in general (see Kositsyns). I can’t see the Habs getting in on the Lecaviler bidding at the trade deadline, unless the deal is centered on the young goaltender Carey Price. Montreal can ill afford to trade any offensive options such as Plekanec or Kostitsyn. Dropping Vinny’s 7 million dollar salary and picking up a young stud goalie makes all the sense in the world to me, but, we’ll see what happens.

New York Rangers: Lecavalier just seems like a New York kind of guy, he’s attractive and charismatic, and seems to posses the swagger needed to win over New York fans. He also comes with a New York price tag in the form of a seven million dollar cap hit. The Rangers have been linked to Vinny as far back as 2001 and I’m sure would still love to have his talent on the roster. A trade this season is a virtual impossibility, the Rangers have next to no cap space and the only way to free some up is to demote failed Sather signing Wade “Golden Gloves” Redden. I can only see the Rangers doing this if they get a defenseman to take his place in any deal. As far as in the off season I see Vinny as the Rangers third option. First option of course being Ilya Kovalchuk. Secondly, if Ilya can’t be had would be to resign newly acquired Olli Jokinen to a deal that pays him substantially less than the 5.25 million he makes this year. If Olli stumbles down the stretch or won’t lower his asking price and Ilya cannot be had I think a Vinny trade is all the more possible.

Ottawa Senators: This is an interesting rumor that has been circulating recently, Ottawa certainly has a lot of talented players on the wing and a deficiency through the middle. Jason Spezza is one of the most underrated players in the league, but after him Mike Fisher is much more suited to play on a third line a provide energy and solid two way play, and rookie Peter Regin shows great upside but might not quite be ready to lead the second line in a playoff series (he also would likely be a piece Tampa would want in return for Vinny). Vinny could be just the piece Ottawa needs to jump start veteran Alex Kovalev and underachieving Jonathan Cheechoo. I personally think if Ottawa is serious about the playoffs they need to look at goaltending and not a center, however, Vinny would be great grab for them depending on price (I think Regin and young D-man Brian Lee would be a nice starting point in any deal).

Sleepers:

Phoenix Coyotes: They probably don’t have the money to make this deal but it makes sense, a young up start team who just lost a scorer to injury could use a veteran presence to guide them into the playoffs.

LA Kings: What player wouldn’t fit great into this system. I have to commend Dean Lombardi for “staying the course” as it were and rebuilding this team. They have one of the best farm systems in hockey and still produce a great NHL product. After missing out on Ilya, Vinny could electrify this offense and would come at a cheaper price than the Russian star.