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Lecavalier's deal is done

''I'm feeling unbelievable,'' Lightning captain says of agreeing to four-year contract.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 6, 2001

TAMPA -- Vinny Lecavalier wasn't feeling like part of the family.

He was Lightning property, but the restricted free agent wasn't under contract, and negotiations seemed to be at a standstill.

Then Uncle Rick came to town, or should we say Lightning general manager Rick Dudley.

Dudley flew to Montreal, where Lecavalier lives, and told him over breakfast Tuesday how much he wanted him on the team. Lecavalier told Dudley how much he wanted to play for Tampa Bay.

Then Lecavalier told his agent, Kent Hughes, to get something done. Two days later, a negotiation that had gone in fits and starts since May was complete, with Lecavalier agreeing to a four-year, $10.2-million package with incentives that could raise the total to $14-million.

He will make $1.5-million this season, $2-million next season, $2.5-million in 2003-04 and $4.2-million in 2004-05.

He is expected to play Sunday against the Panthers at the Ice Palace.

"Of course, I told Kent I wanted to play, and I'd like to get something done," the 21-year-old captain said by phone Friday before boarding a plane to Tampa. "But it was the meeting (with Dudley) that really started it."

"I wanted Vinny to see me sitting there and telling him, 'You are important to me, to us,' " Dudley said. "It was fun. We talked a little bit about the contract, but most of the time we talked about the team and how people were doing. You could tell he had a lot of interest."

But as Lecavalier said, "We still had to talk and get something straight with the organization."

That would be Lecavalier's contract, his first after finishing his entry-level deal that paid a base salary of $975,000 his first three years in the league.

The Lightning offered three years, $6-million. Lecavalier's side proposed three years, $9.45-million. It seemed an unbridgeable gap until Dudley brought with him from Montreal a proposal by Hughes for a four-year deal that offered both sides a chance to gain a lot of what they wanted.

The final contract, negotiated largely by assistant general manager Jay Feaster, reflects that.

The first three seasons are worth $6-million, just what the Lightning offered, and buy out a season of arbitration eligibility relatively cheaply because arbitration tends to skyrocket a salary. That's why the fourth year's salary, which buys out another arbitration season, is a balloon payment.

The base salary is $1-million more than the Senators gave Marian Hossa, who recently signed a four-year deal coming out of his entry-level contract and whose contract was considered a model for what Lecavalier might get.

Lecavalier's side thought it important to get more than Hossa, even though Hossa's statistics were slightly better, because of intangible factors such as Lecavalier's captaincy and that Hossa attained his numbers on a superior team.

Incentives in Lecavalier's contract are tied to team points, individual scoring and Lecavalier's plus-minus rating, which last season was minus-26, one of the worst in the league.

"I think both sides were very happy," Lightning president Ron Campbell said. "It's a very fair deal. It's good for the team and it's good for Vinny."

Still, at 6 p.m. Thursday, negotiations broke off and there was a real sense the two-day negotiating effort at the Ice Palace had failed.

"I've never been more negative than I was at that moment," Dudley said. "I was jogging on the treadmill and was saying, 'This might go away for a while.' "

But a call from Hughes to Dudley restarted the process.

"I'm feeling unbelievable. I'm just so happy to get back," Lecavalier said. "I'm just packing my stuff and thinking about the season starting Sunday."

What's the deal?

A breakdown of Vinny Lecavalier's new contract with the Lightning:

TERM: Four years.

SALARY: $10.2-million ($1.5-million this season, $2-million in 2002-03, $2.5-million in 2003-04 and $4.2-million in 2004-05).

INCENTIVES: Based on team points, individual scoring and plus-minus rating. They could add up to $4-million on top of the salary.

TEAM PAYROLL: About $24-million, about $14-million below the league average.

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS: Lecavalier's contract likely will set a benchmark for the team's other stars, including Fredrik Modin, whose contract expires after this season, Brad Richards, whose deal is up after the 2002-03 season, and rookie Nikita Alexeev, who has a three-year contract through 2003-04.

-- Compiled by Damian Cristodero.

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