Vincent Lecavalier Taking Full Advantage Of Opportunity With Los Angeles Kings
By Jeff Henning
12 years ago, a 23 year old center was hoisting the fabled Stanley Cup above his head. At that point in time, hockey truly had a home in the sunshine state. From that point forward, Vincent Lecavalier would become one of the more dynamic players in all of the NHL, one you could depend on finding on the scoresheet night in and night out. A consistent 30-goal scorer for much of the millennial decade, Lecavalier and teammate Martin St. Louis were a dynamic duo that could rarely be stopped. Although the Lightning were never able to return to the Stanley Cup Finals with Lecavalier on the roster, few would deny the decade of dominance that Lecavalier brought to the Tampa Bay roster.
Unfortunately for Lecavalier, like every other athlete before him, began to show the effects of his battles with father time. Lecavalier began to see a decline in his offensive production during the 2008-2009 season, a full decade into his professional career. His 29 goals that season broke a streak of 5 consecutive seasons of 30 or more markers. However, even though the goal totals were down, he was still a very productive player and wouldn’t truly begin to bottom out until the 2010-2011 season. After scoring 70 points in 2009-2010, Lecavalier was only able to manage 54 points in that ’11-’12 season, his lowest point total since ’01-’02. From that point on Lecavalier would battle more with staying healthy than he would staying on the scoresheet. His last season in Tampa Bay would come in 2012-2013, where he was only able to play in just 39 games, although interestingly enough he did produce 32 points in that small sample size.
Hoping to rejuvenate his career, Lecavalier signed a 5 year, 22 million dollar extension with the Flyers, after being bought out by Tampa Bay. To say that things didn’t work out quite the way either party had in envisioned may be the greatest understatement of all time. In fact, thats probably putting it nicely. Not to blame Lecavalier because if an organization is willing to give you that money, you take it. But, what on the earth were the Flyers expecting? Lecavalier ended up playing 133 games for the Flyers, stretched across 3 different seasons. He posted only 58 points with the Flyers and also registered a (-24) rating overall. There’s no doubt the Flyers wanted to move on from the failed experiment, but with that horrendous contract no team in their right minds would ever be willing to bite.
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It would take a lot of retained salary for a team to agree to acquire the former Rocket Richard winner, but finally in early January, a deal was struck with the Kings. The Flyers were able to move both Lecavalier and Luke Schenn to Los Angeles for a draft pick and depth forward Jordan Weal, with Philadelphia retaining 50% of both salaries. Soon after this trade was announced, Lecavalier also announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season, giving the Kings even more of a reason to take a discounted former All-Star in their quest for another Stanley Cup.
Lecavalier has only appeared in 5 games as an L.A. King, but he’s already shown some of that former skill and artistry. With 3 points in those 5 games, the 35 year old forward is already rewarding the Kings by taking a chance on him. Unlike in Philadelphia, where Lecavalier was usually a healthy scratch, he has found a home on the Kings bottom 6 forward lines, and is showing that he can still produce for offense that doesn’t necessarily need to rely on him to do so. While it’s not the big offensive grab Kings fans may have been hoping for, both Lecavalier and Schenn will provide much needed depth in a very physical and intense Western Conference playoff schedule.