Los Angeles Kings Should Be Careful With Vincent Lecavalier
By Ryan Ritchie
Los Angeles Kings: Vincent Lecavalier‘s Hot Start Could be an Issue
When the Los Angeles Kings dealt Jordan Weal and a draft pick in exchange to Philadelphia for Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn, some were left scratching their heads. Already, Lecavalier has three goals and one helper in six games, while Schenn is seeing an increase in ice-time since the trade.
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The Los Angeles Kings brought Luke Schenn in for defensive depth on a team thin at the 5-6-7 spots on the blueline. With young players down in AHL Ontario scratching at the door, and Derek Forbort likely ready for a more expanded role next season, pending free agent Luke Schenn is simply in the mix to ensure the Los Angeles Kings have depth up-and-down their entire lineup come playoffs.
Careful with Vinny
While it’s certainly refreshing to watch Vincent Lecavalier find consistent production again, for the first time since his days in Tampa Bay, it is just a six game sample. He was expected to add secondary scoring, and is exceeding expectations early on. After taking on 1/2 of Schenn and Lecavalier’s contracts, $2.25 million dollar cap hit for Vinny is very manageable, especially if he continues to produce at even half the current pace.
At the time of the deal, Lecavalier’s agent reiterated his clients intention of retiring following the 2015-16 NHL season.
via BroadStreetHockey,
“There would be no salary cap penalties if Lecavalier retires before his contract ends, since it is not a 35-plus deal nor is it eligible for recapture penalties.”
So what happens if he continues to produce, and decides he’s not ready to hang up the skates?
In 1176 career regular season games, Lecavalier has 414 goals, 522 assists, for 936 points. If he puts up another 15-20 points in 2015-16, his career point total would be in the 951-956 range. Sitting just 44-49 points away from 1000 career points after a re-surging year, when you’re signed through 2017-18, might be enough motivation to stick around.
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Worst case scenario, Vincent Lecavalier is unsure about retirement, and needs the offseason to figure out if his body can handle the wear of another 82-game campaign. In this instance, we’d have a rare scenario where one player leaves two teams in limbo cap wise. This is especially concerning with the latest rumors of a cap not expected to rise much, if at all in 2016-17.
If Lecavalier holds out on a decision to return, both the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers must account for the potential extra $2.25 million dollar cap hit. Both teams could go about their business as usual with no expectation of Lecavalier’s return. If either team does that, and he returns, the team is backed into a corner and forced to make a move. However, if teams try to make decisions and leave space for Vinny, it could result in missing out on an attractive free agent.
Los Angeles Kings are committing $61,230,227 million dollars to next year’s salary cap (only including 23-man roster plus IR). This is excluding Lecavalier, and free agents Milan Lucic, Trevor Lewis, Jhonas Enroth, Luke Schenn, Christian Ehrhoff, Brayden McNabb, Derek Forbort, Jeff Schultz and Jamie McBain.
In 2016-17, the Los Angeles Kings will find some cap relief from rookies. Players such as Kevin Gravel (D), Valentin Zykov, Adrian Kempe, and Michael Mersch have legitimate shots at cracking the NHL roster next season.
Cap numbers obtained from GeneralFanager
The big question remains. Will there be enough room to re-sign Milan Lucic?
If Vincent Lecavalier does indeed retire at the conclusion of 2015-16, the Los Angeles Kings will still be hard pressed to sign Lucic to a new contract.
Estimations project the Kings to have anywhere between $10 to $15 million dollars of cap space for next season. Necessary re-signing’s include Trevor Lewis, Brayden McNabb, and Derek Forbort. Arguments could be made for another couple of names set to become FA’s. That leaves little room for Milan Lucic, who should garner somewhere between $5.5 and $6.5 cap hit/year.
At 27, Lucic is due for that long-term lucrative contract, and if the Los Angeles Kings are unable to afford it, he’ll test free agency. If he reaches free agency next summer, his hometown Vancouver is an ideal fit.
If Vincent Lecavalier decides there’s more left in the tank, and returns in 2016-17, the numbers would suggest there’s zero chance of Milan Lucic re-signing in Los Angeles. Of course, making cap space is sometimes as simple as making a trade, but it would likely mean moving out contracts. And no, teams are not taking on Dustin Brown‘s $5.875 million dollar cap hit for a fading bottom-six forward. Otherwise, there’s very few contracts that could be moved without hurting the team as a whole.
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What would you do if you were Vincent Lecavalier? If the production continues, and he’s sitting in the 40 point range from a milestone mark such as 1000 career NHL points – that competitiveness and drive as an athlete might be enough to push him for one more year. Or, do you think, regardless of his production in 2015-16 that Vincent Lecavalier retires and follows through as originally planned?