Posted by Friedman yesterday prior to the buyout:
Quote:
But as more teams announce to local reporters that they will not be participating, you can understand why. The risk is great, especially when you have another season to decide if your candidate's drop-off was a lockout-induced blip.
There's been a lot of debate about Brad Richards of the New York Rangers (more on him later), but perhaps the best example is Vincent Lecavalier. Jeff Vinik and the Tampa Bay Lightning are working hard to restore the organization's position in the market, but they aren't bathing in $100 bills like Jim Dolan and the Rangers. Lightning GM Steve Yzerman would not specifically address Lecavalier's status at last week's GM meeting. And I can't blame him. Talk about igniting a firestorm.
It's easy to look at this and say, "Tampa can't afford Lecavalier's $7.7-million salary-cap hit, so get rid of him." Okay, but you're still going to be paying him $30 million over the next 14 years. And you're going to have to replace a top-six forward -- a centre, no less -- who has 135 points in 168 games the last three seasons. That's 0.8 points per game.
That kind of production will be hard to replace. Now imagine Lecavalier doing that for less money somewhere else.
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