Vinny is not untouchable

We'll have a bigger story on this in Tuesday's paper but, since it's Vinny, figured the debate was never too early to start.

It is difficult to tell whatwill happen with Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier. On one hand, it almost is unthinkable the superstar center could be traded, on the other hand, with Tampa Bay struggling as it has, isn't it incumbent on the team brass to explore all options as it tries to retool?

That, it seems, is where we are with Lecavalier. GM Brian Lawton, in his first public comments on the subject, since so much speculation came to a head, said the Lightning is not shopping Lecavalier. But he also said as the team evaluates its needs going forward, "There are no players who are untouchable."

"And that has nothing to do with Vinny Lecavalier," Lawton said before Monday night's game with the Kings in Los Angeles. "That has to do with the status of any team I'm managing. It has to do with our macro goal of being committed to winning, being committed to giving our fans a winner. No player supersedes the goals of any team I'm working on."

Lawton said the process is the same one performed by every NHL team.

"The clarity for me is unless a team is performing at a championship level, there are no players who are untouchable," he said. "We're looking at every player on our team, all the time until we win a Stanley Cup."

In case you are wondering, Lecavalier's new 11-year, $85-million contract extension has a no-move clause. But the contract and the clause do not kick in until July 1.

The rumor mill certainly has been churning lately, and it got a big boost from the news last week that Lightning brass mete in New York with league officials and Tom Wilson, CEO of former owner Palace Sports & Entertainment, to restructure the $70-million finance agreement with Palace Sports on the $200-million sale of the team.

Lawton admitted the drooping economy has had an effect on the team's finances.

"No different than most of the businesses around the world right now," he said. "We are not recession proof. Are we going out of business? Can we meet our payroll? Has coach (Rick) Tocchet been paid? All these ludicrous things I've heard are totally false. ... That is the root of where this discussion is coming from. People are saying, 'Well, they're going out of business. They're going to have to trade their expensive players and they're starting with their most expensive player."

Lawton said if he were shopping Lecavalier, he would tell him face to face to make him part of the process. Lawton said that hasn't happened, and Lecavalier confirmed Monday he has not been approached.

So, here is what I think is happening. Teams, sensing an opening, are no doubt calling. The Lightning is listening, and it is safe to assume there have been internal discussions as to whether the team, long-term, would be better off with Lecavalier or the assets he would bring in a deal.

In the meantime, the rumor mill will churn. Canada's TSN already has a trade mapped out having to do with the Canadiens, though it does not include shut-down defenseman Mike Komisarek, who, logic says, would have to be included in any deal of this magnitude.

If Lecavalier thinks the rumors and speculation are bad now, wait till the Montreal native goes home for the Jan. 25 All-Star Game. As he said Monday, "I'm just glad we're in California and not Canada. I haven't even looked at the Internet."

As for the game, defenseman Matt Smaby sitting out (lower body) was a game-time decision as was the decision to sit defenseman Steve Eminger (upper body). Vladimir Mihalik, up from AHL Norfolk, gets in the lineup, but Tampa Bay goes with just five defensemen. ... Jussi Jokinen also was scratched. ... No morning skate today but coach Rick Tocchet said Matt Pettinger, a good skater and responsibe defensively, will start on a line with Lecavalier and Vinny Prospal. ... Marty St. Louis is with center Jeff Halpern and Ryan Malone, the line that wa so good Friday against the Ducks.

Comments

[leo]

If we don't land Boowmeester, PD, what would YOU want for Kaberle?
And DON'T go overboard.
P.

[ajax]

5-1. Talk about your best players air mailing a game in. Poor Ramo, though the boy does have a bad habit of giving up lots of juicy bounds. Funny comment by the SJ announcer. At his age Stamkos has more points than Thorton did his entire 1st year. In fact Ovechkin Malkin Heatley Iginla Datsyuk Zetterberg?? None of them were even in the league at his age. Vinny scored 28 at his age Staal 31. Except for Crosby's phenomenal rookie year, if Stamkos gets 32 points I think he will be ahead of every player in the entire NHL at his age. Based on history I would give the kid a break at 18. I think of the 4 guys ahead of him in rookie scoring they all are at least close to 2 years older than him. The guy leading rookies in scoring from Chicago, Versteeg?? He is 4.5 years older than Stamkos. I hope in 4.5 years we still got him. oops 7-1, how do you type uggggggly.

[Tom M]

The Lightning went from being an NHL joke to Stanley Cup champions and now with the OK Corral at the helm and talk of trading their franchsie player --- well, back to a joke again!

[Patrick]

Sigh, leave it to the lightning to kill a penalty with 5 skaters.

[Patrick]

HockeyTalkie,

Thank you!!

[hockeytalkie]

patrick go to

http://atdhe.net/

and find the tb/sjs game link on the list to watch it live.

[ajax]

Anyone watching the game. Please watch one thing. Krijicek. The guy never has the puck for than a milisecond if someone is within 10 feet of him. Talk about the wrong game to have Ranger and Emminger both out. We are having trouble getting the puck out of our own zone. Hopefully Danny will have a talk with his mates and keep it down to 4-0. If ever a game hilites the importance of balance (forwards and D) watch this one. I hope we don't score, as Mezzy will play 34 minutes if the score stays close. If Montreal and Vancouver etc are watching this game ya know what they are going to say to themselves. IF Vinny has 38 points on that team....skys the limit!!!

[PD]

Patrick the Leafs will be even worse before better. They will be very active sellers at the deadline.

[PD]

Heh Patrick Flasher and I get along just fine , always have for a couple of years.

[Patrick]

PD,

Congrats on another strong performance by the leaves.

[Patrick]

BoltFlasher,

Let me second the appreciation of your posts. Your unflappable sanity in the face of PD is impressive.

Lightning sound like they are holding their own against the sharks so far, although Ramo has let one in.

[ajax]

Flasher, great post in times of hysteria. It is amazing how this articles sums up about two straight weeks of BS on this blog. IS it 100% false?? How about....Any chance of it being even 75% true?? I will never know. Either will the negs, but that don't stop the 10 neg posts a day. But at least, to me and me only, it at least has some common sense to it. The guy says 3 big money teams want him(no kidding) The guys on NHL network called him one of the top 3 offensive players in the game last night. It says he knows of not one reason the owners are in dire financial ways. He talks of moving Vinny only if the "Hershel Walker" offer comes across the desk. By the way, I used the H, Walker analogy more than once. Our GM is a moron??. He would really be a moron if the Cowboys didn't have a huge pow wow, if they were offered like 2 proven starters, 2 prospects and draft picks. Montreal, Vancouver and New York could careless about his salary and cap. By the way, I have been fighting PD for two weeks and been saying all of this. Vinny untradeable?? Please?? PD posted at least 30 posts calling all of us idiots for even suggesting the "anchor" could be moved. Now he will do what he does best, Spin away, as usual. The problem with this blog lately is the guy who posts the mosts sees the worst (or invents the worst) in every blog he creates. Stop biting on the nonsense. We are at 51 Mil on the cap. Did anyone in July think we would be at 51 mil?? Be honest. Did anyone in July think the world would poop its financial pants?? Why is it all falling apart??, instead of giving these "business men" some credit in very difficult times?? The only thing I know for sure is this. The article makes sense, he defuses all the pot stirring of resident pot stirer PD/Bear/Ignitz. Of course that is why it must be all snake oil, all fluff. I say take a deep breath and enjoy the offers. Would it surprize me to see Vinny take a shot at winning the Cup with a team that is going to spend the cap every single year? Athlete's like to win. I think Vinny wants to win. Another subject I touched upon, when everyone said Vinny will never leave. I think the desire to win is one of the strongest for most Athlete's. As a team, I think we are closer than most think. But, and a huge BUTT, Our D is banged up, and probably will continue to be banged up with only 4 of them playing 90% of the minutes. So we ain't winning the cup this year or next. Never in a million years did I think the Cowboys would spend this much, let alone "hope" they would spend more for two more D. I don't think it is in the cards, not this year for sure. I said it a 1000 times this summer. Any of you that want to argue the owners "must" spend the cap aren't being fair to the reality of Tampa economics. Last year we were at 42+, this year we are at 51+. How short our memories our. How we dwell totally on the failures instead of the positives. Does Vinny want to spend the prime years9at least the next 2, maybe 3) of his career with a team fighting for the number 8 spot. Only he knows, but can ya blame him if he wants out. I believe Vinny is much more open to a trade then he ever thought "HE" would be. I see some good hockey players on this team. I see a coach who the players believe in (this by the way makes a world of difference in on ice performance) The Vinny Annual Open happens everytime we visit Montreal. I guess the nature of people, that we never quite get use to dealing with "it", without worrying ourselves to death. I will go on the record, even though I have already stated this numerous times. I am loyal to winning. If we get the sky and the moon for Vinny I would trade him in a New York Minute. IF and probably a big IF, Vinny is actually open to a trade, my brain tells me he ain't exactly 100% here anyway, ya know what I mean?? I would feel better if VL4 was on TV tomorrow and was saying, I ain't leaving unless I am kicking and clawing. But that ain't the case is it?? Field the offers. None of you like Lawton, but Feaster would of never even listened. Takes lots of guts to make a megamove. THe comments posted never cease to amaze me. They want to dump his salary, so what, they can play in front of 8000?? They have the most to lose people. I am an optimist, I don't think it is the end of the world if this team gets 2 Dmen and we have actually 6 real NHL Dmen, all playing around 17-23 minutes in front of Smith. I don't think Lawton is listening to anything other than mega offers and I am sure he is getting some. I for one don't think the Cowboys are as self-destructive as some bloggers paint them. They have made mistakes and yet who can say they haven't really committed money more than we ever could of dreamed?? They ain't losing 30 million a year (last month the figure on the blog was 20 mil) now it is 30 million. If we are losing 30 mil, how much is Phoenix Atlanta and Nashville losing?? 50 mil. So much self serving junk printed here. Did anyone watch the Atlanta game last week?? Their couldn't of been 6,000 at that game. The whole lower bowl was empty. Anywho, I am in it for the long run. Rough year so far. How much did anyone expect after dumping 12 non-NHL players off of last years roster?? We need more D and ain't gonna happen with this economy and a cap already at 51 mil. So we wait and see and support. At least that is what I will do. I would be more peed to see Marty leave as we will get less for him AND, AND we will get, as predicted!!! a boat load for Vincent Lecavalier. Since this blog is in serious need of positive thoughts. We wake up and it is 2011 and we have 3 guys that are fixtures from the Richards trade and 4/5 guys that are fixtures from the Vinny trade and we saved 6/7/8 million a year while doing it?? I am sure that is what the Cowboys are thinking. No. I forgot they are doing everything in there power to turn in the keys. Please. Someone posted some of the names thrown around aren't signed. That again could be a good thing. Offers in the short term are sure to go down, meaning we could get even more bang for the buck. It isn't always the "worst case" and successful people have a way of trying to make things work. This isn't an Einstein moment.

[Brittany]

Ok, so there are a lot of new posts and I haven't gotten the chance to read through them all, but I wanted to point you in the direction of that other Tampa newspaper's website (I know, this is bad form, but hey when it comes to Vinny, people gotta have as much info as possible). Lawton was interviewed again and here is his quote:

"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.

There was more in the story earlier, quote was:

"Lawton says that was taken out of context, so I asked him directly: "In his opinion, will Vinny Lecavalier be a member of the Lightning at the end of this season? "In my opinion, yes," he said. "I don't want to be coy and play games here, so I'll just say yes."

This last stuff has been cut out of the now present article, but I promise it was there! He also says that if Vinny does get traded, it will be because he doesn't want to be here. Lets just hope that doesn't happen and Lawton sticks to his word.

[PD]

Flash Phoenix is a walking disaster. Some owners wanted to contract them by the All Star game. There is no hope for them.
With the way the lease is set up they can't be moved.
Definately a team , (one of 6) that will be disappeared before next season.

Anaheim, the criminal charge is public record no?

Tough to spin either in the positive sense.

[Boltflasher]

GMs are what Eklund is about, not owners...

[leo]

Agree with PD.
...dang...
Though the no-trade only kicks in in July, there is still an "abstract" no-trade in place considering they wanted V4 to have it in the first place.
So TB WILL try to accomodate him. Boyle didn't go to the Isles, remember.
P.

[Boltflasher]

Strange PD, Eklund was all over Phoenix and their owner and his trucking biz as he was all over Anaheim's owners probs...

[Jack]

Is this about Lawton or about the team? All I hear is I, I, I,-this is my clarity-he is in this for himself. Ship him out-

[hockeytalkie]

other GMs approached or other GMs approaching TB? i read it as the later.

[MANAVIS]

If they even attempt to trade V4 it will go down as the worst trade of the decade. The money they are paying V4 is no where near what he's worth and if they think they are going to get a bundle in prospects and talent they are sadly mistaken. V4 is a top 4 or 5 player in the league. V4 has at least 10 good years left in the tank if not more. The fans will give up their season tickets in droves. This ownership is stupid, they first brought in Mullet boy and then traded away their first round pick and now they want to trade away their franchise icon. This ownership doesn't have a freakin clue...they are Culverhouse all over again but worse. The commissioner should be tarred and feathered for bringing this group of kooks to TB in the first place. We had so much hope back in July, now its replaced with yet another cow manure type season. This ownership group, along with the retard commissioner, needs to relieve themselves into the hockey toilet (or as Archie Bunker would say...turlet) where they belong.

[PD]

Talkie its just that if you follow him he will never paint an owner in a bad light. He will always take an owners side.

His stream of info relies on it

Montreal isn't being painted with a fire sale. Tampa is

You'd be right about Mtl pushing the intensity up but the base story of other GMs approached is still in play.

There is no guraantee that Vinny goes to the Habs, if he said to management that he would rather go to LA they would likely accommodate him.

[hockeytalkie]

pd -a question on this comment

"Unless of course you understand that Ecklands entire business depends on reporting inside stories from owners."

so why would he not have good info from mtl that runs totally contrary to his tb sources if the VL4 deal were still cooking? know what i mean? in your statement he serves 30 masters not one. and just as a guess given the change of drivers down here, he mtl source would be more reliable would it not?

all i'm saying is he's saying what i heard down here. which is mtl made the offer, not tpa. gives a bit less credence to all the mtl blogs going wild with premature ejacs don't you think?

[PD]

Right on with Football Mike 13. Understand V4's local prominence.

That shows clearly that it's the $$ dictating the shot because it defies all logic otherwise.

[PD]

amen brother

[Tampa Wine Guy]

"Lawton is Len Barrie's hand held puppet"

Agreed, PD. Maybe more the point is what flasher noted, and to Lawton, I quote a quite prominent ex-coach:

"SHUT your $#%^$#% YAP" Well, he didn't use the expletive there, I did.

[Mike13]

Hey PD, the Bucs may be a more popular sport franchise down here in Tampa (I personally can't stand football - WAY TOO SLOW and almost as boring as NASCAR), but Vincent Lecavalier is by far the most popular athlete (see DC's article in the Times today).

[PD]

Guess that settles it Flasher.

Unless of course you understand that Ecklands entire business depends on reporting inside stories from owners.

[Boltflasher]

Latest from Eklund completely and utterly refutes any hint of rumour about OK losing the team, financial crisis or shopping of Vinnny.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eklund/The-Absolute-Latest-on-Vinny--Chat-with-Eklund-Now-From-PensFlyers/1/18847

[PD]

TWG, Lawton is Len Barrie's hand held puppet. He has no autonomy.
What Lennie says comes from his lips.

[Boltflasher]

Though I basically agree with what Lawton said, it was not a good idea to air those feelings publicly. It would have been better to keep that behind doors. So many will misinterpret...just look at this blog! It is the role of a GM to always "listen", he didn't need to state it...

[Tampa Wine Guy]

OMG is Lawton a flippin' idiot! He kept his yap shut since Melrose's firing, now the dumb@SS opens it again! OK and Barrie need to get rid of this clown NOW! Talk about someone who is stuck on I!! Look at his quotes, how many times was it "I" in the equation. This @$$ it in it for himself, and F" to all you fans.

Frankly, like the idea of a trade or not (I for one am against it) of V4, my humble opinion is the franchise simply doesn't survive the trade. Barrie and Koules have to be smart enough to understand that.

Boyle, Richards, etc didn't go over well with some, and one could make an argument loss of attendance has a partial link there. V4, no way, I don't think the Lightning survive two years if this happens.

I'm a season ticket holder and corporate sponsor. I am loyal to this team, and will continue to be.......TWG

[Herb]

If they trade Vinny, the only time I would set foot into the SPTF is to take in a concert or stand up comic for I have tix to Jeff Dunham.

[Patrick]

Lawton - "No player supersedes the goals of any team I'm f'ing up, err, working on."

[Boltflasher]

Glad to see someone else who thinks that would be a ridiculous trade..

[Herb]

"part of an artificial reef" is what I meant

[Herb]

Keep Vinny and ship Lawton out to the gulf with a pair of cement shoes as an artificial. The players mentioned in the trade are bums and only signed through the '08-'09 season in which they would leave after that. PK Subban is not part of that because he is on an entry level contract that would remain the Bolts property for a couple of years. What a complete joke that I wouldn't put past Lawton to do something incredibly stupid though.

[Boltflasher]

Leo that's not what he said...

[Bob]

The difference between Feaster and Lawton is simple.Feaster said the team would make changes if they didnt play well.Lawton is a name dropper and therefore he is a problem.Lawton needs to get it through his head that it isnt about him.Its about what you put on the ice.

[leo]

Interesting post from Brother Super on the Inside/Out.

"Bob MacKenzie was saying the following last night: If Lecavalier wants no part of being traded to Montreal, he'd probably say something like 'I love the city of Tampa and I'm here to stay'. If, on the other hand, he'd be wiling to get moved to Montreal, he'd say something like 'Montreal's a great city where hockey is king...but right now I'm in Tampa'.
Well LaPresse sent a journalist last night to L.A. where Tampa was playing and he quickly interviewed Lecavalier. He quoted Lecavalier saying almost the exact same thing 'Montreal's a great city where hockey is king...but right now I'm in Tampa'."

Of course, grain'a'salt with this too.
Speaking of the Inside/Out, whatever you do, don't listen to the song that just came out and is top'o'the page...
P.

[Steve-O]

PD, McLeans statement is true when you look at the increased spend these guys made against the cap this summer. When the Richards trade got done they were way off the cap with no interest in spending more. Richards had to go to free up money to get a decent goalie or additional players. That was a good, money shifting trade. In hindsight, with the way Smitty is playing, we might not have needed to do much else this summer to make the playoffs. 1 or 2 guys added (Malone).

The difference with the V4 rumors is that if you do it, you have no core left to build around so you are in full blown rebuild. It is not the same sort of money freeing trade. Can you imagine the Caps or Penguins trading their stars to tweak things at this point. The teams are built around them. So that would be a complete change of direction. For us to trade Vinny would be a second change of direction in 6 months. Look at the teams that have longevity, they add one or two pieces each year or at the trade deadline, but they don't do a complete overhaul.

Feasters biggest mistake was in tying up too much salary in 4 guys so there was nothing left to complete the lineup. With the Richards deal we addressed the goalie (although no one knew it then) and had money left over. One or two more pieces and we should have waited. The merry go round does nothing but maintain the turmoil

[Oscar]

BTW, what's Neil Smith doing these days?

[Oscar]

For all of the buffoonery and prodigious mishandlings, The one wise thing Jay Feaster said and adhered to was, "I won't be known as the GM who traded Vincent Lecavalier."

Mr. Lawton, since when did wrong become right? He's not the macho El Capitan, so the only way to depose Vince and promote St. Louis or Halpern to Captain is to deal our #1 Big Guy?
Idiot! This is a locker room leadership triumvirate I can finally live with and you want to d!ck it up? Get gone wannabe!

Let Canada thaw their brains long enough to put down the Hustler magazine and dream of Lecavalier or St. Louis being stupidly dealt away from us.
Whatever keeps the poor 'tards warm...

[Giving up on Gorges so soon, eh? Curious. Nah, keep the entire Canadiens and Leafs roster up there, we bees okay. We need to find more Cap Raeder's out there. A new, tight lipped and SAVVY General Manager would be nice too.]

Go Bolts!

[leo]

I wish I was, Flasher.
Not too partial to losing Gorges and Subban, two born WINNERS.
Shouldn't have to cost us that much for a white elephant contract in a coupla years.
We'll see.
Right now, it looks more like us doing you a favor than wanting to buy V4 at any cost.
We don't NEED V4; We just want him A LOT.
P.

[Boltflasher]

However, all of this is a waste of time, as they will not trade him to empty out the StPete Times Forum....It would only be me and Coach Bill and it would be a big place with 2 people there...

[Boltflasher]

A Lecavalier deal would need to be along the lines of the Herschel Walker deal or no go...If they deal for what Leo says, then I would have to agree with PD that's a bad sign...I want the K's, 2 picks, and Plek and you have to take Krajicek...

[Boltflasher]

Leo, you've got to be kidding...

[Stacey]

I agree w/ both of you about Vinny's demeanor last night. He looked like he something on his mind. Did you see the end when Steven was trying to joke with him? Stoic...

[Nan]

I want to hear Koules say something about this to the public. Is he the boss or is Lawton? Koules is the one that made the promise to Vinny and the fans. Just listening to him speak versus Barrie or Lawton, you can tell he is an honest guy as opposed to the other two. I wouldn't trust the other two at all. Damian, call Koules!

As far as the "any team I am working on" statement by Lawton, I hope that this is the first and last team he ever works on. A public relations nightmare with him. Either say nothing at all Lawton or speak the truth. The fans can smell a rat or is he a weasel?
I am sick of hearing threats made by management. I think Lawton is undoing the good work being done by the coaching staff by his comments. Let these guys have a chance to get the team turned around with Vinny and Marty leading the way.

I agree with you Brittany. Vinny didn't show his usual joy after scoring last night. Sad to see that but happy to see he can produce no matter the rumors surrounding him. Good for him!

[Brittany]

Steve-O, I don't think that is a big deal. The reporters he was talking to were probably French Canadian (I'm betting his comments were translated from French even) and of course he would tell them that Montreal is some place he would like to play and all they included in their article was how everyone he knows is from there, etc. I think the more telling piece is that he says he likes playing in Tampa and that he is a loyal person. That is what I continue to hear him say, that he loves it in Tampa (this is where is heart is, when he started in the league 10 years ago, Montreal was where he considered home, but after 10 years he considers Tampa home now too, not to mention $3 mil to All Childrens'). My concern was the look on his face last night during the interview and even after he scored that goal. Where was the Vinny who slammed into the boards and had a big smile on his face when he scored? He scored his 350th assist of his career and not even a smile during the interview. Maybe he was just worn out because of his shoulder or all of the rumors and media, or maybe he really is unhappy and wants out. I know which one I'm hoping it is.

[PD]

Steve O re:
"Where would we be if they had had a bit more patience and kept Boyle or Kuba or...? "

Doug McLean coach GM 22 years in the NHL answered that very Q.professionally on TV last night.

He is a good friend of Koules and was in the group to buy it with Koules originally.

"If Tampa had done nothing but keep Richards and Boyle and add a free agent goalie ie Manny Fernandez, they they would be in the middle of the eastern conference stongly contending for 7th or 8th.

He couldn't believe how badly they have messed it up on and off the ice.