The Tampa Bay Lightning announced their intention to buy out the contract of Vincent Lecavalier Thursday. The 33-year-old has seven years and $45 million remaining on his current contract, which forces the team to take a $7.72 million annual salary cap hit.
The Lightning will pay Lecavalier $32.67 million in portions and an $8 million bonus that must be paid at once. The team will make the payment of his remaining salary at two-thirds, $24.67 million over a span of the next 14 years.
"Vinny has been a significant reason for many of our past successes, including the 2004 Stanley Cup, and his contributions to the community are immeasurable," Tampa general manager Steve Yzerman said in a statement. "The Lightning organization is indebted to Vinny; we thank him for all he has done here and we wish him well as he moves forward.
"After much internal deliberation, we believe this will prove to be a pivotal move for us as we strive to achieve our long term goal of competing at the highest level, year-in, year-out. The economics and structure of the CBA are necessitating this decision and we at the Lightning are excited at the newly created opportunities this presents to us."
Due to the NHL's new collective bargaining agreement, the Lightning will not be faced with a salary-cap charge because of the move. Lecavalier will enter the offseason as an unrestricted free agent on July 5. Due to CBA regulations, he must wait at least one year before he can rejoin the Tampa Bay organization if he wishes to do so.
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