In what has to be seen as somewhat of a shocking move, the St. Petersburg Times reports this morning that Tampa Bay is making plans to buy out the last three years of the contract of LW Vaclav Prospal.
The transaction will cost the Lightning $7M spread out over six years. Tampa Bay owes Prospal $10.5M in the three remaining years of a four-year, $14M deal. Buyouts pay two-thirds of the remaining worth of the contract over double the remaining years.
That means the Lightning will pay Prospal $1.M million per year, a savings this season of $2.33M in salary and cap space.
“After fully evaluating our roster and our position in the salary cap world, we arrived at the decision to buy out Vaclav Prospal from his contract,” GM Brian Lawton said in a statement. “We appreciate Vinny’s service to the Lightning, but in the best interest of the team, we believe a difficult decision needed to be made in this case, and we are going to move ahead without him. We wish Vinny all the best.”
The Times notes that Prospal is in his native Czech Republic and could not be reached, but his agent, Ritch Winter, was philosophical.
“I just accepted it. I don’t know what else you can do,” he said. “You can have an opinion different from the hockey gods of a particular team, but the Tampa Bay Lightning made the decision, and we’ll just move on from there.”
Prospal had a disappointing 19G, 26A last season, but doesn’t Tampa Bay know about his good year-bad year-good year-bad year career pattern? He’s due for a big season in ’09-10!
Once Prospal lands with another NHL team we’ll see what his fantasy value might become for this next season, but in the meantime the buyout leaves Tampa Bay minus one quality, top-six winger. Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos are automatics, clearly, but then there are just question marks. Another signing could certainly be on the way and this buyout clears some room, if that’s the case.
It’s never dull with the Lightning, eh?
HEATLEY STILL IN THE MIX?
The Edmonton Journal reports that as of Monday, NHL sources say the Oilers have yet to run out of patience with winger Dany Heatley and haven’t called Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray to pull out of their trade, a month after Heatley rejected their offer.
Hockey fans in general and fantasy owners in particular are anxious to see how this situation plays out, but as an Oilers homer it really doesn’t bother me that Edmonton hasn’t pulled its offer yet. Does it seem desperate? Sure, there’s no getting around that inevitability. The bottom line is that although Heatley hasn’t been jumping for joy at the prospect of playing for the Oil, I can live with leaving that offer out there for more of the summer because in the long run (especially since the players’ names have already long-since been leaked) it doesn’t hurt the Oilers and it could pay off.
If he never says yes, so be it. If it gets closer to training camp and the Sharks, who are allegedly his top destination and potential trade partner match, still can’t get a deal done with Bryan Murray, then maybe Edmonton ends up as the default choice. You take a team that was already a bubble playoff squad but has since upgraded its coaching staff, goaltending and then adds a potential 50-goal man and things are suddenly looking up.
As someone who grew up in Edmonton, I have little doubt Heatley would love playing there. Even if he doesn’t yet know that little tidbit. The fans are passionate and despite what people are saying now, I think most of them would come around once Heatley starts potting GWGs and travelling down that path to another 40 or 50-goal season opposite Ales Hemsky. Heatley, love him or hate him, is a difference maker in the goal scoring department. The Oilers desperately need a guy like that, so how off-base is it really to appear desperate in the quest to get him?
It’d be easy to say “move on” since he hasn’t agreed to waive that NTC to this point, but it’s in the Oilers’ best interest to continue to attempt to land him if the possibility still exists. They’d be a much more competitive team with him than without him and as long as the trade market for Heatley remains this cool, then Edmonton is actually doing what’s best for the franchise by staying in the hunt.
SHANNY’S IN FOR SURE
The Star-Ledger reports that there is enough interest around the league in Brendan Shanahan that the veteran winger is already looking forward to training camp and his 22nd NHL season. But agent Rick Curran wouldn’t say on Monday if Shanahan and the Devils were getting close to a deal. Shanahan, 40, is a UFA.
“I have nothing to report at this time,” Curran said. “I’m encouraged to the extent that I know Brendan will be playing this year. That’s all I’m prepared to say.”
The article notes the Devils are interested in having Shanny return if the price is right, although the decision will also apparently hinge on talks with new head coach Jacques Lemaire. Either way, Curran doesn’t expect a delayed team interest situation like last season where Shanny didn’t even get in his first game until January 19th .
Shanny isn’t much of a fantasy force these days, but he’s still a good bench guy in most average-sized standard leagues because of the PIM/ SOG factor. He only had 14 points in his 34 GP last season, but the 29 PIM and 77 SOG still made his worthwhile in some cases.
Should he find himself in a position to contribute more points because of a berth inside of the top six again, then that can jump his value up enough to warrant a final wing spot for a poolie roster in many cases.