Gainey confirms Lecavalier trade talks happened

[saskhab]

I read another article where Bob said the names were brought up by Tampa Bay people and not him. Maybe they were fishing to see how far Bob would go to get the player they want.

My understanding was that Tampa was looking to make a deal, said they were interested in those players, but the deal never happened because Tampa leaked it to guage reaction. When the reaction from Tampa's sponsors and season ticket holders was overwhelmingly negative to the idea of trading Vinny, Lawton backpedalled and blamed the "Montreal media" despite the fact it was leaked via Bob Mackenzie and TSN's guys. Mackenzie even has said that Tampa had scouts at the WJC's doing a McDonagh vs. Subban comparison for the proposed deal, and they chose Subban.

It was only after the leak was negative that Tampa then claimed they'd need a Markov or Komisarek type in the deal, knowing that was a no go from Bob, to try and nix the deal. It appears that Lawton both initiated and nixed the proposed deal, at least if what Gainey has revealed is accurate. It also never got to the point where Gainey could say "I agree, let's do it!" by his story, it was Tampa doing the leg work to put their offer on Bob's table.