Vincent Lecavalier is leaving the only NHL club he has ever known.
The 33-year-old Lecavalier, selected first overall in 1998 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, will be bought out by the club due to his prohibitive contract.
"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 Lightning said in a statement Thursday. "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."
Lecavalier represented a salary cap hit of more than $7.7 million US. Under NHL buyout guidelines, he will be paid $30 million US (two-thirds of what remained on his contract), spread out over 14 years (twice the number of years left on the contract).
Lecavalier has scored 383 goals and 491 assists in 1,037 regular season games, with 746 penalty minutes. He was the Rocket Richard Trophy winner as the leading NHL goal scorer in 2006-07.
The centre has averaged less than a point per game over the last five seasons, and has missed 42 games over the last three seasons. The Montreal native put up solid numbers in 2013, with 10 goals and 22 assists in 39 games.
He's added 24 goals and 28 assists in 63 playoff games for Tampa Bay, who despite a Stanley Cup win in 2004 and an Eastern Conference final appearance in 2011, have never been able to establish a consistent playoff presence in more recent seasons.
Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, each NHL club was given the option to use up to two compliance buyouts prior to the end of the 2013-14 season in order to help teams get under a lower salary cap.
Levacavalier joins goalie Ilya Bryzgalov and forward Daniel Briere, both formerly of the Flyers, as the most notable players bought out so far.
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