Vincent Lecavalier wants out of Philadelphia. The Flyers reportedly want to clear their books of Lecavalier's contract. So at least the interests of the player and team are aligned.
Unfortunately, Lecavalier's deal has proven all but impossible to move and the Flyers' unwillingness to retain salary in a possible transaction reportedly hasn't helped matters.
So in order to help lubricate a potential trade, Lecavalier is willing to get creative.
"Some believe that Vincent Lecavalier - he obviously wants out of Philadelphia - but maybe he entices a team with an acknowledgement that he doesn't intend on playing out the remainder of his contract," TSN's Darren Dreger said Tuesday during an Insider Trading segment.
"There are some close to Lecavalier that believe that he may retire after next season. So he wants to play out this year - he's getting $6 million. Wants to play another year at $4.5, but maybe he'll leave as much as $6 million - the remainder of that deal - on the table, but he definitely wants out."
Lecavalier's deal is not of the 35-plus variety, and isn't subject to salary cap recapture, so technically this is possible. It requires a team trading for Lecavalier to take the 34-year-old center at his word, though. That's a tricky proposition when you consider that there's $6 million in potential salary, and $9 million in combined salary cap liability, at stake.
Lecavalier, who is logging fourth-line minutes at even strength and factoring into the Flyers' second power-play unit this season, was a healthy scratch Tuesday, and not for the last time this season.
