MVN - Most Valuable Network

Vincent Lecavalier to Sign a Lifetime Contract?

Both TSN and its sister station RDS is reporting that the Lighting are close on a very long term deal with Vincent Lecavalier.

TSN’s sister station in Quebec RDS reports that the Lightning and centre Vincent Lecavalier have made very good progress on discussions that would see him sign a ‘lifelong’ contract with the club after July 1.

This comes after the NHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the Lighting to Oren Koules and Len Barrie. The Lighting wanted to make a splash after the sale went through and it looks like they have. Lecavalier was pegged the “Michael Jordan” of hockey coming into the league. The Ligting should make him the “Bill Russell” of hockey and name the player coach. This team needs to get a coach. Just make Barry Melrose the coach already.

I don’t think Bettman thought teams would sign players to long term deals like the ones that already have gone down. It started with Rick Dipietro signed a 15 year deal with the Islanders. The owner put Dipietro in a corner and he had no other choice to sign. Then Alexander Ovechkin signed that record 13 year deal this year. Mike Richards also signed a 13 year deal. I might be wrong but I thought with the salary cap in place, teams would focus on short term deals.

Tomorrow the Lighting will likely get another potential franchise center in Steven Stamkos with the first overall pick. All they need is a goalie to become a contender again. I like Mike Smith though and should be a good one down the road.

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There have been rumors that Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau could be on the move but what I have heard it’s not true.

MVN will most likely have live coverage during the draft similar to their MLB Draft coverage. I will be handling live blog coverage. When more information is available I will have an update.

Update 9:10pm: At the last minute, plans have changed on live draft coverage on MVN.  I just got word after I posted this post.  I will have a recap Saturday.

That’s My Take

(Nathan also writes for the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. You can follow the Lewiston Maineiacs and news around the QMJHL here at The Asylum. Become a fan of The NHL Source on Facebook. To join the MVN Hockey Staff Nathan can be reached at fbbhgfan@aol.com)

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 4:28 pm and is filed under Tampa Bay Lighting, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Ovechkin, Philadelphia Flyers, Vincent Lecavalier, Mike Smith. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.