Latest on Milan Lucic, Vincent Lecavalier, Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf, plus updates on Canucks’ free agents Shawn Matthias and Yannick Weber.
Lucic hopes to remain a Bruin.
THE BOSTON GLOBE/BOSTON HERALD: Amalie Benjamin and Steve Conroy report Bruins left wing Milan Lucic hopes to stay with Boston but that’s not a certainty. His $6 million salary for next season, inconsistent performance this season and UFA status in July 2016 raises questions about his future with the club. Benjamin writes the Bruins must decide if Lucic is worth retaining. If Lucic is shopped this summer, Conroy believes he could fetch the Bruins a very good player in return. He also has a limited no-trade clause, giving the winger some say over potential trade destinations. He must provide a list of 15 favorable trade destinations. Lucic says management has not approached him about a trade.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Another factor could be a change of management. If the Bruins fire GM Peter Chiarelli, his replacement could decide to make a big splash by shipping out Lucic this summer.
Will Vincent Lecavalier remain with the Flyers?
Will Flyers and Lecavalier part ways this summer?
PHILLY.COM: Sam Carchidi reports the Philadelphia Flyers “don’t have enough snipers, don’t have a true first-pairing defenseman, and don’t have enough speed to match up with the league’s elite.” However, GM Ron Hextall lack sufficient cap space to address those needs unless he can shed some contracts, notably those of forwards Vincent Lecavalier and R.J. Umberger. Odds are most of the changes could come from within. Carchidi speculates Hextall could try moving a defenseman or two, like Niklas Grossmann, for a draft pick.
CSNPHILLY.COM: Tim Panaccio reports moving Lecavalier is a priority for the second straight summer. Panaccio also speculates Grossmann, Luke Schenn and Andrew MacDonald could have value if Hextall decides to make a trade.
COURIER-POST: Dave Isaac reports Lecavalier is willing to return with the Flyers next season provide Craig Berube is no longer the head coach. If Hextall trades Lecavalier or makes other moves, Isaac suspects most of them will come during the NHL Draft weekend from June 25-27.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Even if the Flyers sack Berube, I think Hextall will still try to find a way to trade Lecavalier. A buyout is possible, though at two-thirds the remaining value over twice the remaining tenure it’s an option Hextall could try to avoid. Grossmann is a likely trade candidate. Schenn could be too, but MacDonald’s hefty contract will be tough to move unless Hextall agrees to pick up part of it, take on a toxic contract in return or finds a club in need of reaching the cap floor before the start of next season.
Phaneuf and Kessel want to remain Maple Leafs.
TORONTO SUN: Terry Koshan reports much-maligned Maple Leafs stars Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel insist they want to remain in Toronto. Both are ongoing subjects of trade speculation.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’m only noting Phaneuf’s and Kessel’s comments as it’s the first time since the season ended they’ve acknowledged the possibility they could be moved. Sure, they’re saying the right things about wanting to stay, but in reality they will probably welcome being moved. I believe Leafs president Brendan Shanahan wants to move them. It’s just a matter of finding the right fit, not just for return but also finding a club willing to take on the remainder of their salaries. That won’t be easy.
Latest on the Canucks free agents.
THE PROVINCE: Steve Ewen wonders if the Vancouver Canucks have enough cap space remaining to re-sign pending UFA forward Shawn Matthias. Ewen notes the Canucks have over $66 million invested in 17 players for next season. If the cap reaches its original projection of $73 million, the Canucks will only have a little over $6 million to spend on six more players. Matthias is earning $1.85 million this season and is due a healthy pay bump. He’s among their leaders this season in goals and ice time among forwards.
NBC SPORTS: Jason Brough recently noted the Canucks limited cap space could make it difficult to re-sign defenseman Yannick Weber, who was red-hot offensively down the stretch. Weber will be a restricted free agent and hopes to remain. Brough points out the Canucks could free up space via trades, speculating veteran blueliner Kevin Bieksa might become a trade candidate, though his no-trade clause could hamper that possibility.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks played well during Bieksa’s lengthy absence this season. He has a year left on this contract at a cap hit of $4.6 million. If he can be convinced to waive his no-trade clause, moving him will free up sufficient space to re-sign Weber and Matthias to affordable raises.
Vinnie sure didn’t make it any easier for Hextall to find a trade partner by ripping his coach! How many GMs/coaches will want someone not adverse to openly blaming the coach for his lack of production (for the money he’s making?).
I’m not exactly sure scratching him 17 times this year, forcing him to play bottom 6 ( at wing), has done wonders for his trade value either. Vinny’s time in Tampa came with PLENTY of criticism, public bashings, stripped of the C (All by Torts) but I had never seen this guy lash out publicly like this in the past. Perhaps the Flyers organization should have thought a little more about this signing / fit. It seems the ink wasn’t dry on the contract before they regretted this deal.
and he has received 0 top pp minutes in two yrs. last yr he still put up 20 gls. the bottom line is berube has no idea if he can still play because he refuses to put him at center on the top 3 lines.
you can’t put Vinnie in a 4th line role and then bi*8tch when his production is not good enough. the guy can still play in this league. he just needs 14 or 15 minutes a night AT CENTER and little pp time.
Vinny sure isn’t having a problem cashing those paychecks, is he? Underutilized or properly utilized, the guy isn’t what he used to be.
Philly didn’t have a problem writing the checks either. They outbid 10-12 other interested teams for his services. Nobody put a gun to their heads and made them sign a 33 yo player in decline. They wanted him, they got him. As ESPN stated at the time “The Flyers have won the Lecavalier sweepstakes”. As a Ranger fan I have seen MANY bad signings. The one that will always stick out the most to me is the Redden deal. Which in many ways was very similar to this deal. The guy was in heavy decline for 2-3 years in Ottawa, and Sather bid against himself for the guys services…..Do I blame Redden or do I blame the guy that grossly outbid himself in “win” that deal?
Think back to the Ottawa Senators’ decision to keep Redden and let a guy named Chara go – now that is truly a bad decision – makes the Rangers’ offer to Redden sound almost reasonable.
Even further back…… Mike Milbury trading Chara and the pick that became Spezza for Yashin? OUCH!!!!
Prime reason why Muckler lost his job.
That’s Philly!!! I feel like coming out of my “retirement’ to see if they would pay me to sit in the press box and collect a check.
I have always liked Lecavalier. I hope he lands on his feet somewhere. This poor guy walked into the NHL getting kicked in the teeth and it seems to just continue year after year since he was a rookie.
I remember when he was drafted out of Rimouski, he definitely could play the game for sure, but he’s worn down to a nub by now. Time flies, and father time has caught up. He’ll just retire in Tampa and get a job working the front office for the Lightning. I read he gave 3 million to build a pediatric center which will be named after him, which in any case is cool. He needs to hang them up.
I think Vinny has actually been pretty diplomatic about the whole thing. He has repeatedly avoided throwing Berube under the bus. Even in these comments he certainly didn’t “rip” Berube.
As a leafs fan, if they truly jump into a full rebuild by dumping kessel, phaneuf etc then I have no issue taking a guy like vinnys contract if it comes with a pick. Phili is not really in such of a position to give away picks in deals but if Toronto gets say their second rounder then yes. Hell if Toronto gets rid of everyone on their current roster (kessel, phaneuf, bizarre etc) then I’ll take both vinny and umburger too. Give me their first rounder they got from Tampa and Biggs and Finn back. Phili gets prospects, Toronto gets an extra first to use. While I dislike helping out an eastern conference team by doing this they will at least have extra picks. They can swallow vinny for two more years and umburger for three if they are rebuilding.
you forgot about the leafs having to hold salary on phaneuf and kessel
What you described is exactly what I hope they do not do. Not really into explaining the obvious.
Andrew MacDonald = trade value?
His trade devalue would be Philip having to give up their second first rounder I imagine. If they are trying to get rid of their crappy contracts maybe vinny and macdonald along with heir first and possibly second for a mid level prospect or two.
MacDonald is overpaid by todays cap standard, but so are a lot of other guys. If the cap goes up I’d want him on my team. He can block shots, he’s mobile and can get the puck out. He can do what Kris Russell does but he’s making twice as much. I’d say in 2016/17 someone will give Russell 5mil.
McDonald didn’t have a great year-but played most of it with nagging injuries. He may be over paid. $4M would be more palltable. I can see both Luke Schenn AND Grossman getting traded, as they only have 1 year on their contracts. Maybe, package Vinny to a non cap team, as his actual remaining salary is less than the CAP hit.
After years of watching McDonald in NY I can emphatically say he is not a puck mover. His advanced stats (WOWY) are horrendous. Glad to see Philly with this problem.
I am trying to remember the last time the Flyers to a good free agent contract.
Timmonen. Same situatin as McDonald. Traded for him at the deadline-then extended him
Hartnell came over in that deal as well. Both were going UFA in the off season, both signed. Both were good signings. More recently Raffl was a free agent and I would consider him a good signing.
Timonen wasn’t dealt to Philly at the deadline. He was traded around the draft for a pick so Philly could have his negotiating rights leading up to July 1. Hartnell was in the deal too. Philly could have lost both on July 1 but both signed.
@mad mike-thats the same way they got Andrew Mcdonald-which was the original question
Just getting back from Florida and watching the Bruins lose to the Panthers. First thing I been to about 13 Bruins games over the years, and have yet got to see them win a game! I said this before but from point of view, Lucic is only effective if he is playing with another physical winger. It’s too much to ask him to be the only physical player on the line. Maybe Connelly can be that guy, but if he was don’t you think Tampa would’ve given him every opportunity. Chara with the Bruins down by 2 and Rask pulled, the puck coming around the offensive zone, hesitates to go in the retreats and allows Florida and easy exit. In the end Boston finished right where they belonged on the outside looking in.
So caper, what you are saying is all Bruins fans should focus their madness on you for jinxing them. Lol.
LOL. Yeah. And that “13” is significant too.
Haha Caper. It’s all your fault. You kept showing up and they kept losing.
Like I said yesterday – is Lucic a physical player or is he a scorer? If you want him to score 30 goals then he has to spend more time in front of the net than in the corners. Is Lucic inconsistent or just undefined in his role in Boston? You decide
Next time Toronto plays Boston in a game 7 I’m taking you to the game, on me.
Nice!
Hopefully as a team this will cause the shake-up and eye opening the Bruins need. They should have never sign Krejci to that deal and he is the guy IMO that the team should have traded over Seguin. Same with Seidenberg over Boychuk (however I don’t believe Boychuk is worth what he got either from the Islanders).
Lucic needs to sign for less money, they need to get rid of Savards dead money, need a power forward (as suggested above) to play opposite of Lucic and get a capable backup goalie.
1 or 2 guys need to go to gain the proper cap room, my hope is its Krecji, that would help a lot.
The Bruins would be nuts to get rid of Lucic. You’ve got to ask yourself how many other teams would be interested in acquiring a player, and if the answer is 29, maybe he’s pretty valuable. Finding a player that can do what he can is probably as hard as finding a goalie as good as Rask. I wouldn’t trade Rask because of a down year either, he especially stunk in that Florida game.