After making it be known that they are looking to trade for another center in the wake of the club’s decision to trade Jason Spezza, rumours out of Philadelphia indicate that the Philadelphia Flyers have talked to the Ottawa Senators about a trade involving Vincent Lecavalier.
Yes, one season removed from being bought out by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers may already prepared to do whatever it takes to move on the 1998 first overall draft pick.
Lecavalier to OTT? Sens want Flyers 2 pick up salary and want something else for taking him off their hands … #vinnysagacontinues
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) July 3, 2014
Tallying 20 goals and 37 points in 69 games, Lecavalier’s clearly on the downside of his career – marked by a career low 1.63 points per 60 minutes of even strength ice time. Looking at his ‘With or Without You’ numbers over at HockeyAnalysis.com, he’s not making the players around him better either.
Lecavalier was recently paid a $2 million signing bonus on July 1st, so he’ll only be owed $4 million in real dollars for the remainder of the season, but with four seasons left on a deal that will take him to the age of 38 years old, any deal between the two sides will likely depend upon how much salary the Flyers are willing to absorb of the $15 million that is left on his deal.
Already $3 million over this year’s salary cap, the Flyers will be able to get under the cap ceiling way of Chris Pronger’s salary going on LTIR, but offloading Lecavalier’s $4.5 million cap hit will assure them some financial flexibility.
To get that flexibility however, the Senators can afford to get creative here since they possess some leverage. They don’t need to take on Lecavalier, but if they can convince the Flyers to shed a draft pick or better yet, convince the Flyers to part with their first rounder by offering up a lesser draft pick of their own, do it and do it now.
As an aside, if the Senators can actually convince the Flyers to move a valuable draft pick to shed Lecavalier’s cap hit, Eugene Melnyk’s prophecy that the salary cap could force teams to shed players and send something of value to the Senators to do it, would ring true.
‘Senators Re-Sign Dziurzynski
This afternoon the Senators announced that they had re-signed prospect David ‘Dizzy’ Dziurzynski to a two-year, two-way contract. There is no word on whether it contains a clause that bars him from fighting Frazer McLaren.
Dziurzynski’s decision to fight McLaren in Dziurzynski’s tenth NHL game was a costly one. He suffered a concussion and missed 17 days and seven games due to the injury; ultimately motivating the Senators to acquire noted pugilist Matt Kassian.
Senators Sign AHL Vets
Over the past two days the Senators have inked forward Carter Camper and defenceman Aaron Johnson to one-year, two-way deals.
Per the Senators’ press releases:
“Camper, 25, split last season between the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins and Springfield Falcons. He played in 41 games with the Bruins before being trade from Boston’s organization to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 7. He completed the season by playing 19 games with the Falcons. Between both teams, the 5-9, 173-pound forward recorded 12 goals and added 39 assists for 51 points in 60 games. In five playoff games with Springfield, he registered one goal and four assists.”
And…
“Johnson, 31, spent the 2013-14 campaign with the New York Rangers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. He ranked second among team defencemen and fifth among Hartford players in scoring with 40 points (four goals, 36 assists) while appearing in all but one of the club’s 76 regular-season contests.”
Considering the Binghamton Senators have graduated Mike Hoffman and will likely lose Stephane Da Costa to the KHL, the signing of Camper to replace that lost production makes sense. Similarly, Mark Borowiecki, a left shooting defenceman, is also expected to graduate to the parent club this season, so replacing him with another left-shooting defenceman in Johnson makes sense.
Chiasson Picks Jersey Number
Like Jason Spezza in Dallas, Alex Chiasson has coincidentally elected to wear jersey number 90 next season for the Senators.
Sekac Signs in Montreal
Neglected to mention this earlier in the week, but Jiri Sekac, the unsigned and undrafted Czech forward who made a name for himself in the World Championships has signed with the Montreal Canadiens. Ottawa was reported to have been one of the finalists for his services.
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