ANOTHER forward???
O.K... A couple of things here...
1) Yes, 11 years is a stupid long length for a contract. However, it keep the hit at a currently manageable $7.7M.
2) The current CBA will expire between 2009 and 2012, which brings up a myriad of issues, such as:
-Will there be a cap for 2012+?
- If so, how are existing contracts handled?
-- They could be re-valued at the beginning of the new CBA, thereby reducing the cap hits for Vinny, Briere, etc. I could see the NHLPA, and maybe even some teams wanting this, as it would free up more cap space to sign the players. Of course, they could always be carried over.
3) The RDS article says his contract is 10M for 7 years, then drop to 8, then 4.5, then 1.5, then 1. It is allowed for the contract to drop in value from one year to the next by over 50%, provided the salary does not drop by more than 50% of the lower of the values of the first two years of the SPC. So, for Vinny, that is $5M.
4) Should Vinny retire at anytime during the contract, the remaining years would NOT count against the cap.
RDS Reporting Lecavalier Re-signed for 11 Years 85 Mil 
Cross Traffic
