Vincent Lecavalier wearing le bleu, blanc, et rouge: Unlikely

Within the last two weeks, Vincent Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning visited Toronto and Montreal in a Northeast road trip, and the media had a field day. Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos and Daren Millard began speculating that due to the probable situation where the Lightning will have to move one of their big three, Lecavalier will be moved, and Montreal is a likely candidate. Kypreos even went so far as to say "I think Vinnie will end up in Montreal". I think Kypper has suffered three too many concussions.
I could talk for days on trade scenarios where it might be doable for Bob Gainey, but let's take a look at why the media jumped to so many conclusions in first place. Simply put, it would look good, and the Montreal Canadiens marketing team would have their jobs done for them by having a talented french-canadian leading the way. For years, Montreal fans and the organization have been looking for someone to fill the shoes of Patrick Roy, Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau, Maurice Richard, Boom-Boom Geoffrion and the list goes on and on. Saku Koivu has never been enough, despite being a phenominal leader and one of the NHL's true warriors. The Quebec media made it quite apparent earlier this year that no matter what Saku does for the team, it will not be enough because he is from Finland, not Quebec. That is an absolute joke, but that's the way it goes in Quebec. Even if Lecavalier did end up playing for the Canadiens, if Saku was still there, it should still be Saku's team.
Lets, for one moment, entertain the idea of Lecavalier playing for the Habs. Expectations would be so astronomical for Vincent that meeting them would be almost impossible. Today's NHL is not set up for dynasties, and that is exactly what people would want out of him, because Lafleur brought a dynasty, Beliveau, Boom Boom and Maurice brought a dynasty, and Patrick Roy brought two Stanley Cups, so that's what they would want out of Number 4 (he'd have to change his number of course). In today's NHL, it's difficult enough to win one, let alone two or three. And if they did get Vinnie, he'd command about 8 million plus dollars a year, leaving little room for a supporting cast, considering keeping Saku would be a priority and Carey Price is most likely going to deserve in the 5 million dollar a year range within the next few years. Resigning Michael Ryder might prove to be difficult, and if they had to let guys like Mike Komisarek and Chris Higgins go to obtain Vinnie, then they're losing some of their core, placing even more pressure on Lecavalier.
The fact is that having Vincent Lecavalier play for the Montreal Canadiens would be amazing, from a fans perspective and from a PR stand point. Frankly, they've been waiting for a similar opportunity for years, and Daniel Briere didn't quite pan out in the off-season. But even if Bob Gainey somehow could work something out with Tampa Bay, or with Vinnie himself when he becomes a free agent in a couple of years, I am not going to be holding my breath that he will be "the next one". I have all the faith in the world that he would continue his brilliant individual efforts recording 90-plus points year in and year out, but I do not have faith that he can fill the shoes of some of the great Habs. To do that, he'd have to bring some Cups to town, and in today's NHL, more than one is just getting greedy. Plus, we all know that Gary Bettman would much rather see an imaginative talent like Lecavalier playing in an empty arena in sunny Florida on a Saturday night, than in a jam-packed Bell Centre on a Monday night with the crowd going nuts. Heck, that would make sense. Let's just expand the league some more, have it more watered down, so even less teams have a shot at having a superstar like Lecavalier play on their club. Oh Gary, you're just downright nutty.