One question Lecavalier wouldn't touch is whether he now believes he and the Flyers are not a good fit and being traded would be beneficial for both parties.
"Honestly, I really don't want to comment on that," said Lecavalier, who has scored 405 goals for his 16-year NHL career but just two in 16 games this season and none in his last 12. "Obviously, when you don't play — not just tonight but the previous games playing 10 minutes and 5 minutes and stuff like that — it's definitely hard to produce and show what you can do. At the same time, I don't want to give excuses."
Later in his seven-minute interview, Lecavalier was asked if he's tempted to come out and ask for a trade.
"Definitely, but I don't want to be a distraction," he said. "That's not my style. Some guys might be like that. I'm not. It's not a time now to say things that I might regret and that's definitely not going to help the team."
After being bought out by the Tampa Bay Lightning two summers ago, Lecavalier quickly signed a five-year, $22.5 million deal with the Flyers because he thought he'd be a great fit as a second-line center playing in an offense-minded system.
But when the 2013-14 Flyers lost their first three games, Peter Laviolette was fired as head coach and replaced by Craig Berube, who immediately switched to a more defensive system.
"I'm not going to lie and say I didn't go here for Lavy," Lecavalier said. "Of course I did. I met him and (former Flyers GM Paul Holmgren) and had a great meeting. I liked what (Laviolette) said to me. It was obviously a surprise (he was fired), but that's last year and it's a different system and it is what it is. Nothing's always going to be perfect. It's my job to try to work with it and do my best at it."
There were rumors that Ottawa worked a trade with the Flyers that Lecavalier nixed via his no-trade clause — "actually, no," he said Tuesday — and reports that he'd only accept a deal to three teams, two of which were Florida and Tampa Bay.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to comment on that," he said. "That's a legit question, but I'm not there right now. I just want to play better and get better. Yeah, I wouldn't want to comment on that."
Lecavalier did talk about the frustration of being in his situation. When he was asked if he thinks his benching is justified, he answered, "I'm not going to start arguing (with Berube). It's his decision."
Lecavalier clearly thinks that he still can be a 20-25 goals in the NHL with more ice time.
"Oh, definitely," he said. "Yeah. I'm not a different player than last year. I didn't think I had a really good season last year. I had a great start and had a lot of opportunities the first 20 games and then I got hurt and after that (didn't score) as much.
Lecavalier admits that he's lost confidence, but says that Berube benching him isn't a solution to helping him regain it.
"Definitely it's not gonna help," he said. "But that's why I said I've gotta move on mentally and prepare to watch the game tonight and maybe that's going to let me see things that's going to help me with ... maybe more time with the puck.
"When I was injured (this season and in past seasons), I'd watch games. There's nothing you can do about it, but you're up there (in the press box) and kind of watching the game and maybe there are some things that you (see to help you) improve. I'll do that tonight, but as far as sitting out to help the confidence, of course it doesn't."
I obviously wish he were playing better, and I wish he were treated/positioned better by the coaching staff. Hopefully he can land on his feet somewhere and have some success before hanging them up.
