The Lightning selected Lecavalier with the No. 1 pick in the 1998 NHL Draft. He didn't live up to his owner's hype, finishing his rookie season with 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists). But he improved to 67 points (25 goals, 42 assists) in 1999-2000, and Tampa Bay named him captain on March 1, 2000; at 19 years, 314 days old, Lecavalier was the youngest captain in NHL history at the time.

Lecavalier was not quite "The Michael Jordan of Hockey" then-Tampa Bay Lightning owner Art Williams touted him to be. But the center went on to help the Lightning win the first Stanley Cup championship in their history, win the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL top goal-scorer and score at least 20 goals in 12 consecutive seasons.

Lecavalier was not quite "The Michael Jordan of Hockey" then-Tampa Bay Lightning owner Art Williams touted him to be. But the center went on to help the Lightning win the first Stanley Cup championship in their history, win the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL top goal-scorer and score at least 20 goals in 12 consecutive seasons.

The Lightning selected Lecavalier with the No. 1 pick in the 1998 NHL Draft. He didn't live up to his owner's hype, finishing his rookie season with 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists). But he improved to 67 points (25 goals, 42 assists) in 1999-2000, and Tampa Bay named him captain on March 1, 2000; at 19 years, 314 days old, Lecavalier was the youngest captain in NHL history at the time.

But his time in that role was brief; the Lightning took the captaincy away from him before the 2001-02 season and Lecavalier dropped to 37 points (20 goals, 17 assists). But he rebounded in 2002-03 with 78 points (33 goals, 45 assists), and in 2003-04, he scored 66 points (32 goals, 34 assists) and added 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in 23 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help Tampa Bay win its first championship since entering the NHL in 1992.

Lecavalier's best season came in 2006-07, when he won the Richard Trophy after leading the NHL with 52 goals. He ended the season with 108 points and was named an NHL Second-Team All-Star. He scored 92 points (40 goals, 52 assists) in 2007-08, when he won the King Clancy Trophy for his leadership and humanitarian contributions. The Lightning signed him to an 11-year contract on July 13, 2008, and he was named captain for the second time on Sept. 18, 2008.

Though Lecavalier scored at least 20 goals in each of the next four seasons, he scored 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in 39 games during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, and Tampa Bay bought out the remainder of his contract. He signed with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent on July 6, 2013.

Lecavalier, now more of a role player, scored 37 points (20 goals, 17 assists) in 69 games with the Flyers in 2013-14. But he dropped to 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 2014-15 and was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 6, 2016.

He retired after the 2015-16 season with 949 points (421 goals, 528 assists) in 1,212 NHL games, as well as 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists) in 75 playoff games.

The Lightning retired his No. 4 on Feb. 10, 2018.

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