To NYR: Vincent Lecavalier
To TBL: Matt Gilroy, Wade Redden, & Brandon Dubinsky or Ryan Callahan
Per Toronto Sun:
Vincent Lecavalier could be headed to Broadway and a reunion with John Tortorella, his coach from the 2004 Stanley Cup-champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
A league source said New York Rangers GM Glen Sather — who’s desperate to find an answer to his club’s season-long, goal-scoring struggles — reached out to Lightning counterpart Brian Lawton to spark trade talks.
A second league executive insisted Lecavalier, who had just 11 goals in 46 games this season entering last night’s action — is on the market.
While the centre would have to waive his no-movement clause to be reunited with Tortorella, the talk is the Rangers are willing to offer up a package to kick-start an offence that had scored 120 goals in 47 games.
That whisper is that package would be D Matt Gilroy, D Wade Redden and either C Brandon Dubinsky or RW Ryan Callahan.
But the pricey and struggling Redden is a non-starter for the Bolts, who would also want to clear salary room along with Lecavalier.
Lecavalier’s contract carries a $7.727-million cap hit on a deal that runs to 2019-2020.
That’s not much more than Redden, who had one goal and six assists through 40 games — and still has four years left on a contract carrying a $6.5-million hit. The Rangers have been offering Redden around the league.
Indications are it would also be very difficult to get Lecavalier to approve any deal because he’s quite happy with the Bolts.
That’s not going to stop the Rangers from trying. As a league executive noted recently, Sather was so desperate for scoring at one point earlier this season, he tried to acquire Canucks centre Pavol Demitra — a 36-year-old coming off two shoulder surgeries who has just recently been cleared to play this season.
“The Rangers have their nose in everything,” said the executive. “They haven’t been able to score all season. They want to make a splash.”
