Price/Plekanec For Lecavalier: Blocked By NHL, Bettman

This originally appeared at Unplucked Sports

Ken Campbell of The Hockey News included the following tidbit on his blog. A paragraph, sticking and talking point moving forward, is a trade no one was ready for:

“Sources say there was a deal in place last June to trade Lecavalier to the Montreal Canadiens for goalie Carey Price, center Tomas Plekanec and a prospect, but the deal was blocked by Bettman after Barrie refused to approve the deal. That caused a rift between Barrie and Koules that continued to fester and, combined with the financial problems both owners were having, put the Lightning in a state of flux." (Source)

What?!

I’m a proponent of the public not learning about certain deals until their finalized, and this piece is no exception. Had I heard this was forthcoming; I may have run for the hills. (Rural Quebec, right after the Vermont Boarder where my old stomping grounds are, is fairly flat.) Not about Price, but about Plekanec. He’s one of the foundations of the Canadiens’ organization over the past couple years, and his absence would surely be missed.

I’ve done my fair share of feeding into the rumors that a trade is coming or even primarily being discussed. However, like most high-profile deals that set the blogosphere on fire, there’s nothing to it. Nothing will happen.

Vinny is also facing some chatter being sent to the L.A. Kings. He would do great mentoring such a young, up-and-coming bunch, but let's cut to the chase: Lecavalier belongs home in Quebec.

Plekanec, for his part, leave Montreal management in a delicate situation. They can trade the star centre, which is a terrible decision. Plekanec is one of the big pieces of this club moving forward.

The prospect? Who knows at this point of the ridiculous rumor. Probably could have been P.K. Subban.

Not going to happen. Gainey likes to roll the dice, but he’s not going to leverage the future of his system against a short term run at a bottom playoff spot. He knows the competition is stiff in this league to not make a move that will benefit the club for seasons to come.