June 21, 2016
Despite a late-season resurgence of sorts follow the trade that sent him from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, veteran forward Vincent Lecavalier has decided to retire from hockey after 17 seasons in the NHL.
And that's really good news for the Flyers, at least financially speaking.
When the Ron Hextall decided to deal the long-time Lightning forward and former No. 1-overall pick to the Kings this past year, part of the deal was that Lecavalier would retire after the season was over. The quid-pro-quo was because the 36-year-old was more often than not a healthy scratch as the season progressed, and rather than let the former Stanley Cup Champion's career end with him sidelined, he could go to Los Angeles, compete for a Cup, and retire on his own terms.
In exchange, the Flyers would receive financial compensation in the form of an extra $2.25 million in cap space this coming season -- after splitting his remaining $4.5M cap hit (for 2016-17) with the Kings -- once Lecavalier retired and his contract was no longer on their books.
However, that would only be the case if he indeed retired, which became less and less of a sure thing as he began to play well in Los Angeles.
But on Tuesday, word came down that Lecavalier, who spent 14 of his 17 NHL seasons with the Lightning, where he won the Cup in 2004, has decided to call it a career.
#kings Vincent Lecavalier will confirm today he's retiring from hockey at 36. What a career for a real pro and a great guy. Congrats.
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) June 21, 2016
I think it's safe to say the Vinny Lecavalier experiment failed in Philadelphia -- 58 points (28G, 30A) in two and a half seasons, 37 of which came in his first season with the club -- but at least Hextall and the Flyers were smart enough to cut their losses before his cap number REALLY became a problem.
| YR | TM | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- |
| 1998-99 | TBL | 82 | 13 | 15 | 28 | -19 |
| 1999-00 | TBL | 80 | 25 | 42 | 67 | -25 |
| 2000-01 | TBL | 68 | 23 | 28 | 51 | -26 |
| 2001-02 | TBL | 76 | 20 | 17 | 37 | -18 |
| 2002-03 | TBL | 80 | 33 | 45 | 78 | 0 |
| 2003-04 | TBL | 81 | 32 | 34 | 66 | 24 |
| 2005-06 | TBL | 80 | 35 | 40 | 75 | 0 |
| 2006-07 | TBL | 82 | 52 | 56 | 108 | 2 |
| 2007-08 | TBL | 81 | 40 | 52 | 92 | -17 |
| 2008-09 | TBL | 77 | 29 | 38 | 67 | -9 |
| 2009-10 | TBL | 82 | 24 | 46 | 70 | -16 |
| 2010-11 | TBL | 65 | 25 | 29 | 54 | -5 |
| 2011-12 | TBL | 64 | 22 | 27 | 49 | -2 |
| 2012-13 | TBL | 39 | 10 | 22 | 32 | -5 |
| 2013-14 | PHI | 69 | 20 | 17 | 37 | -16 |
| 2014-15 | PHI | 57 | 8 | 12 | 20 | -7 |
| 2015-16 | PHI | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 |
| 2015-16 | LAK | 42 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 1 |
| 2015-16 | TOT | 49 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 0 |
| Career | 1212 | 421 | 528 | 949 | -139 |
Still, that's a hell of a career.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin
