The Flyers went after Vincent Lecavalier in 2013 thinking they were buying pedigree and production. Instead, they got a reminder of how quickly a big name can lose its shine when injuries start stacking up.
Philadelphia has spent years chasing a third Stanley Cup, with the last one coming in 1975, and the organization has never been shy about trying to build a roster good enough to get back there. Free agency has long been one of the most obvious routes, and Lecavalier looked like exactly the kind of swing teams make when they want a proven winner.
He arrived with a résumé that still carried plenty of weight. The 1998 first-overall pick spent 15 years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, won the Stanley Cup in 2004 and captured the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2006-07 after scoring 52 goals.
But by the time Tampa Bay bought out the remaining seven years of his 11-year, $85 million deal in 2013, the production had already fallen off sharply. He had gone from 108 points in 2006-07 to 32 points in his final season with the Lightning, with injuries such as a broken hand and broken foot helping drive the decline.
The Flyers still signed him to a five-year, $22.5 million contract, banking on the idea that a former champion could help push them toward the top of the Eastern Conference. It never really clicked.
Lecavalier’s first season in Philadelphia got interrupted almost immediately when a minor fracture of his lower back cost him 13 games. He returned and finished the year with 20 goals and 17 assists in 69 games, then added one goal and one assist in the Flyers’ seven-game first-round loss to the rival New York Rangers.
Things only got quieter from there. In the next season, Lecavalier became a near afterthought while carrying a $4.5 million cap hit.
He was even a healthy scratch for the first time in his career. He played 57 games and put up eight goals and 12 assists.
His time in Philadelphia was over quickly after that. He appeared in just seven games in the 2016-17 season before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings, and as part of that deal he agreed to retire at the end of the season and walk away from the final two years of his contract.
The Flyers took their shot on a proven name, hoping he could help them get over the hump and back to the Stanley Cup Final. Instead, Lecavalier was a flop in Philadelphia, slowed by age and injuries. In the end, Tampa Bay’s decision to buy out that contract looks like the smart one, and the Flyers’ long-term bet lasted a little more than two seasons.
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