Lecavalier On the Shelf

It was reported on Tuesday that Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier will now be on the shelf for at least a few weeks after suffering a fractured right hand over the weekend. The normal expected recovery time from a fractured hand is about a month, but with the Lightning already starting to sell off easily traded assets for an off-season rebuild/retool, so the team may not be terribly fussed that one of their key players is now on the shelf for a while.

Despite the Lightning falling out of the playoff picture, Lecavalier hasn't had a bad season, scoring 21 goals and 25 assists in 58 games for the club.  After Tuesday night's action, the veteran now sits in 67th in pool scoring, which is a very respectable year, to date, but it will take a good hit, while he is on the shelf.

Lecavalier has been hovering around the top 100 in pool scoring for the last few seasons, finishing 95th overall in 2011, with 54 points in 65 games and it looks like he is now on pace to be around there again with this injury.  It is quickly becoming apparent that Lecavalier, who isn't already, should be on the injury prone list for next season.  The risk is just getting to be too high to draft him soon in the hockey pools.

This season, Leon G. picked up Lecavalier 85th overall in the draft this year and is now in trouble of becoming less of a bargain pick, as he could drop below his selected number.  For Leon's season, it isn't the biggest deal, since the rest of his team hasn't been very good, having him down in 15th spot in the standings.  Lecavalier's injury won't have an impact on the money this time around, but will likely give us a good draft lesson going forward.