The time Vincent Lecavalier was almost traded… to Toronto

Vincent Lecavalier had a fine career in the National Hockey League.

He was especially dominant when he wore a Lightning uniform…

Because after leaving Tampa Bay to join the Flyers, it was much more difficult.

We know that the main interested party came close to ending up in Montreal, by the way.

Former Lightning general manager Brian Lawton claimed years ago that Bob Gainey, then Habs GM, agreed to trade Price, Pacioretty, Subban and a first-round pick to the Lightning for the big center…

A deal that ultimately fell through because the Lightning’s owners imposed their veto. Imagine how difficult the last 10 years would have been in Montreal!

But now we hear from Jeff Marek (32 Thoughts podcast) that Lecavalier was almost traded to Toronto, too.

Lecavalier reportedly joins the Leafs…

While Nik Antropov, Jonas Hoglund, Tomas Kaberle and a first-round pick (or Brad Boyes) would have headed to Tampa :

This was when Torts was there and him and Vinny weren’t getting along. Deal didn’t happen after Dudley resigned and Jay Feaster took over and told them both that he wasn’t going to fire Torts or trade Lecavalier, so you two need to figure it out.

– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) March 22, 2024

At the time, as Jeff Marek explains, Lecavalier and head coach John Tortorella didn’t have a great relationship.

When Rick Dudley decided to leave the team and Jay Feaster took over, Feaster told Lecavalier and Torts that he had no intention of firing the coach or trading his star player… And that in the end, the two men would have to work things out between them.

It’s always interesting to know what’s going on behind the scenes in the National League, and it’s weird to think of a world where Lecavalier was wearing a Maple Leafs jersey.

It would have livened up the rivalry between the two clubs even more…

And maybe in Toronto, the addition of a guy like Vincent Lecavalier could have helped the club enjoy more playoff success. Hehe.

In gusto

– Noah Gregor opens up about the stick to the face he received from Tom Wilson.

“Probably a little reckless with the stick.

Maple Leafs forward Noah Gregor addresses Tom Wilson’s high stick and the fallout (which includes some broken teeth), and also reflects on the play and the Capitals alternate captain’s pending discipline:https://t.co/TR11nEgiW8

– Sammi Silber (@sammisilber) March 22, 2024

– Rangers and Canucks at the top.

P% leaders with a month left in the season:

0.686 – New York Rangers
0.686 – Vancouver Canucks
0.683 – Boston Bruins
0.681 – Florida Panthers
0.674 – Colorado Avalanche
0.674 – Winnipeg Jets
0.671 – Carolina Hurricanes
0.664 – Dallas Stars
0.657 – Edmonton Oilers
0.640 – Toronto… pic.twitter.com/WG4kUxhyUX

– Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) March 22, 2024

– Wow!

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 13th different player in NBA history to record 50 or more 30-point games in a single season.

Catch SGA in action tonight against the Raptors at 7pm ET on SN1 or stream on Sportsnet+! pic.twitter.com/63ami1KXMH

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 22, 2024

– This is boring…

Thanks for nothing @Concacaf for not allowing Mauro Biello to answer questions in french for us french media working up here in Canada! @CanadaSoccerFR

– Jeremy Filosa (@JeremyFilosa) March 22, 2024