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Please, pay Vinny what he asks
© St. Petersburg Times, They need your comfort. They deserve your sympathy. Applaud Lightning officials for their principles. Tell them they have been wronged. Shout, if you must, about the indignity of the process. And then ask them, please, to shut up and pay Vinny Lecavalier what he wants. This is no time to posture. No time to fret about ramifications and drone about the league's structure for salaries. Around here, training camp is typically the highlight of the season, and this one is being tainted by the tremors of a holdout. So you say Lecavalier wants too much money. Of course he wants too much money. When has an athlete not wanted too much money? And, yes, it is true that in times of salary disputes it is usually to the team's benefit to take a hard stand. This is not one of those moments. The question is not whether Lecavalier deserves a salary somewhere south of $2-million a season (as the Lightning suggests) or a little north of $3-million a season (as Lecavalier seeks). The question is what kind of message is sent in the process. Listen to enough of these disputes and eventually you will hear it said it is not about the money. And you know, instinctively, it is a lie. Usually it is the athletes and their agents who preach that nonsense in negotiations while asking, please, could someone validate their parking ticket. Yet, in this case, Lightning ownership needs to say it is not about the money. And it must mean it. The team is worried about setting salary precedents. Perhaps it should consider embracing the idea. A precedent demonstrating a one-time cut-rate franchise is willing to spend money? A precedent suggesting an organization known for the mismanagement of previous regimes has gotten serious? A precedent proving money will be a consideration, but not a deterrent, in building a winner? This is a player the Lightning has said a franchise can be built around. A player handed the captain's title when barely out of his teens. And yet, before we see a fraction of his true potential, there are rumors of trades and the reality of a holdout. The Lecavalier camp has not suggested contentious negotiations could sour its client on his future in Tampa Bay, but at some point this thing is going to become personal to him. This is not to suggest the Lightning does not have valid points. The way the salary structure is set up, teams have the advantage in negotiations until a player has enough service time to be eligible for arbitration or free agency. For Lecavalier, arbitration is two years away. Does he have flaws? Certainly. Not to suggest he doesn't play defense, but the opponent seems stuck in a permanent power play on his shifts. It is true, also, that Lecavalier has not exactly marched up the league's scoring charts. Based on those stats, the team's offer is not out of line. And so we arrive at the place where the two sides have come to disagree. The Lightning wants to pay Lecavalier based on his past production. Lecavalier wants to be paid based on his overall value. That gap is wide. Lecavalier may have performed like a $2-million player last season, but would the Lightning actually trade him for any other $2-million player in the league? Or even a $3-million player? Absolutely not. If this were a team that had a crowd of star players in the locker room, management could tell Lecavalier to get in line. For the Lightning, that is a much more difficult, dangerous proposition. The team has marketed Lecavalier as a star, and his profile is as high as any hockey player in Tampa Bay. It just doesn't seem wise to alienate both the fans and the player after promoting that relationship for years. This was not supposed to be an issue with this ownership group. In the days after Bill Davidson purchased the team, we were told money would not be an object when it came to securing the right players. Everyone agrees Lecavalier has the special qualities of a future star, so why the fuss? Davidson surely has grown weary, like Lightning owners before him, of revenues not matching costs. But if the franchise is ever going to succeed, it is going to take substantial investments in the right players. In this case, resolution is not likely to arrive soon. We should consider ourselves lucky if the sides are even willing to negotiate a week from now. One possible remedy is if the sides agree to a one-year deal loaded with incentives. That way, the Lightning will at least be assured of production for its expenditure if Lecavalier plays as well as his demands suggest. The Lightning remains wary of setting the bar too high when it comes to negotiations for future stars such as Brad Richards. But the team must realize, one way or another, a precedent will be set. Officials can either spend the money or cost themselves the future.
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Times columns today John Romano Mary Jo Melone |
