From the CBC’s Elliotte Friedman:
Pure speculation on my part, absolute guesswork: Paul Holmgren said this week one of the reasons Vincent Lecavalier struggled is because Peter Laviolette, who recruited him, left, and Lecavalier wasn’t a fit in Craig Berube’s system. Is there a trade fit now that Laviolette is in Nashville? Flyers would probably have to eat a good chunk of his salary, but Holmgren and Poile have a history of getting deals done.
Similarly, from Sun Media’s Chris Stevenson:
Hearing Vincent Lecavalier to the Predators to reunite with Laviolette is a possibility. Laviolette apparently pushed for him in Philly.
— Chris Stevenson 🇨🇦🏒⛳️🍺🎙️🌈 (@CJ_Stevenson) May 7, 2014
Add to the equation two things -- the front-office shakeup in Philly and David Poile’s admission that the Predators need a “big-time forward” to complement Nashville’s defense and goaltending -- and, well, we’ve got ourselves a realistic rumor.
We wrote earlier in the week about Lecavalier’s “tough year,” which ended with the 34-year-old logging less than 10 minutes in four of the Flyers’ seven playoff games against the Rangers.
Lecavalier has four years remaining on his five-year contract, with a cap hit of $4.5 million. (His average salary in the next four seasons is a slightly lower $4.125 million, as he was paid $6 million in the first season.)
According to CapGeek, Lecavalier has a no-movement clause, so he’d have to approve any trade.