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Lawton: 'We Are Not' Trying To Trade Lecavalier

The Associated Press

Although Lecavalier signed an $85 million, 11-year contract extension in July, the no-movement clause included in the deal does not begin until July 1.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 13, 2009

Vinny Lecavalier was the bridge that led a joke of a franchise to the Stanley Cup. He was the stud in a room with too many duds, as one previous Lightning owner might have put it. He is the guy people come to see with this team.

Maybe the only guy.

It needs to stay that way, even as rumors no doubt will continue to swirl that Lecavalier is about to be traded - maybe to Montreal, maybe somewhere else. The Lightning's recent history has done little to suggest it couldn't happen, which is why everyone is a little on edge now.

It's also why Brian Lawton, general manager of the Bolts, all but said Vinny isn't going anywhere.

"If Vinny Lecavalier isn't here, it's because he doesn't want to be here," Lawton said Tuesday.

Since Vinny has said he wants to be here, repeatedly, that would seem to tell us what we need to know.

We also know stuff happens, though. Lecavalier has, in effect, a lifetime contract with the Lightning - an 11-year deal worth $85 million, with a no-trade clause that kicks in July 1. Dan Boyle had a no-trade clause, too, but they traded him anyway. They even traded Brad Richards.

Trading Lecavalier would be something altogether seismic. What's left of the fans would storm the Forum with flaming torches, demanding human sacrifices. Lecavalier is the most popular Bolt ever, the face of a franchise. One of the faces of the entire league.

You don't trade him. You build around him. You bring in players you think will complement him.

The stories out of Montreal say the Bolts and Canadiens are talking about a package of players and draft picks for Lecavalier. It's a runaway train, and it sprung from another rumor that says the new Bolts owners are in grave financial difficulty. There is no credible evidence to suggest that is true, beyond a lot more empty seats at the Forum these days, but it hasn't stopped the talk.

Lawton tried to do just that.

"Are we trying to trade Vinny Lecavalier? No, we are not. Is the Tampa Bay Lightning going out of business? No, it isn't," Lawton said.

You can draw nuance if you want from that statement, and no doubt someone will. They'll say that statement isn't unequivocal on Vinny, which I suppose it isn't. Since everybody seems to assume facts not in evidence in this story, though, here's my take: I don't believe the Bolts will trade Lecavalier, at least not this year, and they'd be crazy if they did.

Players are the game, and Vinny is the most important player in Bolts history. Some franchises play for decades and never get a player quite like him. No player better represents everything this franchise has been through than Lecavalier. Keep him around while young Steven Stamkos matures, and maybe there is hope for this team after all.

We've been through this before. Returning Lecavalier to a team in his native land seems to be an obsession at times for our friends from Canada. There's always a story out there somewhere that Vinny is about to be on the move, just like now.

"In a perverse way, all this is kind of a tribute to the kind of player he is," Lawton said, and that is true. Only Lecavalier can start the kind of stampede that seems to be happening now. Despite all that, he is still here.

He needs to stay here.

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