Tampa Bay Lightning: Top Five Trades In Franchise History

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Sep 16, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Vincent Lecavalier (40) during warmups before preseason game against the Washington Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

As most Tampa Bay Lightning and NHL fans know, forward Vincent Lecavalier was drafted with the first overall selection of the 1998 NHL draft. However, if you ask those same fans how the team got the draft pick, they would not be able to tell you that the team actually traded for the top pick in the draft that year even though the previous season the Lightning finished with the worst record in the entire league.

The trade was a clever one made by the team. Knowing they would finish with the worst record in the league by a wide margin, the only thing standing between them and the number one selection in that year’s draft was the draft lottery. The San Jose Sharks owned the Florida Panthers first round draft selection, and the Panthers ended up with the number one selection in the draft.

However, the Lightning agreed to send Bryan Marchment, David Shaw, and their conditional 1st round pick in exchange for Andrei Nazarov and the Sharks conditional 1st round draft pick. This caused the Lightning to jump to the top overall selection in the draft and select Lecavalier while the Sharks moved down to number two (later trading the pick to the Nashville Predators).

As previously stated, the Lightning finished the 1997-98 regular season with a measly 17-55-10 record for a total of 44 points which was good for last in the league. Not to mention the ownership group of the team was a complete mystery and the team was financially unable to support itself. Forbes called the Lightning the worst professional sports organization in North America at the time. The franchise was in ruins both on and off the ice, but one thing helped save the franchise and that was a young Canadian centerman from L’lle-Bizard, Quebec and his name was Vincent Lecavalier.

As the team’s ownership continued to move from one person to another, Lecavalier began his career on again one of the worst team’s in the NHL; however, the young Canadian was one of the few bright spots on a team that lost more games than the newly founded Nashville Predators.

He scored 28 points in his first full season and begun to take steps to become one of the leaders on the team. 1997-1999 was one of the darkest times in franchise history, however, things would soon start to look up for the team from the lightning capital of North America

The team’s ownership went from Kokusai Green, a golf course and resort operator in Japan, to Art Williams, and finally to William Davidson. Davidson was also the owner of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons. Though the team continued to perform poorly on the ice, the franchise now had an owner that was committed to winning. This allowed the team to finally move in the right direction and begin to climb up the standings.

Lecavalier continued to improve his play each and every year he was in a Lightning uniform and even was the captain of the team for a short period of time. He would play an important role as the team’s franchise player along with Marty St. Louis and Brad Richards in the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. Vinny scored 68 points in the regular season and 16 more in the playoffs as the team brought home its first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Before he was bought out by the team after the 2012-2013 season, Lecavalier finished his 14-year tenure with the team as the franchise leader in games played (1,037), goals (383) and points in a single season (108). As noted in our ‘Franchise Four’ article, Vinny was a fan favorite both on and off the ice. His magnificent play will always be remembered by Lightning fans, but his charity work will benefit children all over the Tampa Bay area.

As we have for all the other trades, looking back at the other player’s involved in the deal, Lightning defenseman Andrei Nazarov scored four points in 40 games before moving on to the Calgary Flames. For San Jose, Bryan Marchment played six seasons with San Jose and was a solid defender for the team scoring 66 points including his career high of 22 in 2001-02

The team moved out of the second overall pick slot in the 1998 draft in a trade with the Nashville Predators to get the third overall selection in the 1998 draft, and a second round pick that same year. The Sharks drafted defenseman Brad Stuart with the third overall pick and Jonathan Cheechoo with the 2nd round pick.

Stuart was a solid defender in San Jose for many years and has had two stints with the team in his career. Cheechoo made his mark in the organization with a few fantastic seasons with the Sharks that included a 56 goal season in 2005-06 when he won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. Unfortunately, after he was sent to Ottawa in the Dany Heatley trade, his career took a nose dive and he ended up playing in the AHL for four season before moving on to the KHL where he currently plays.

Wow, that was a mouthful of information. The trade worked out for all teams involved, but the Lightning will pull out ahead due to the fact that Lecavalier was a franchise altering player that basically helped save the organization.

If they did not hit on that pick, who knows, Art Williams may not have bought the team. The team may not have a Stanley Cup either. However, that is not the case and the 1998 NHL draft trade to get Vinny Lecavalier will top our list as the best trade in Tampa Bay Lightning history.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning Year In Review: The Triplets

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