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Bolts Acquire Prospal's Rights

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 19, 2008

Updated: 06/19/2008 12:11 am

Two tours of duty might not be enough for Vinny Prospal.
Tampa Bay acquired the negotiating rights to Prospal from the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday in exchange for a seventh-round pick in this weekend's draft. If the Lightning sign Prospal to a contract, Tampa Bay also will send a fourth-round pick in the 2009 draft to Philadelphia.

The Lightning have 12 days of exclusive rights to negotiate a deal with Prospal before he hits the free-agent market July 1. Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said in a statement the team intended to pursue Prospal in free agency, regardless.

"While we realize some of the risks involved in this strategy we also know that Prospal and Vinny Lecavalier have a very special chemistry together and getting Prospal back in the fold early would enable us to focus our time, attention and resources on other critical areas this summer while leaving our successful top line virtually intact," Feaster said. "At the end of the day, we felt that reacquiring Vinny now and attempting to negotiate a contract with him sooner rather than later was in the best interests of the organization."
Prospal is in the Czech Republic and was not immediately available for comment, but his agent, Ritch Winter, said his client is excited to possibly play in Tampa for a third time.

"His willingness to leave was never lower than any other player that left the team, so one should anticipate that he is looking forward to possibly returning," said Winter, who added the sides have yet to make contact. "Now, having said that, all that happened today was the Lightning acquired his rights. Now that the ownership situation has been approved and things are moving forward, hopefully we can sit down and find something that works for both sides."

After scoring a career-high 29 goals in 62 games with Tampa Bay last season, Prospal was dealt to Philadelphia for defenseman Alex Picard and a conditional pick that turned into a second-round selection in the 2009 draft. He was previously acquired by Tampa Bay at the start of the 2001-02 season and signed as a free agent with Anaheim after the 2002-03 season. The Lightning reacquired Prospal from the Ducks after the 2003-04 season in exchange for a second-round pick.

In five seasons with the Lightning, Prospal ranks sixth on the franchise goal list with 108 and fourth in assists with 218.

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