NEWARK — On Saturday night, the Bruins met with Vincent Lecavalier and his agent, Kent Hughes.
The former Tampa Bay captain was once a far-fetched pursuit for the Bruins. But earlier Saturday, Nathan Horton informed the Bruins he would hit the market when free agency opens on Friday. Horton’s impending departure jacked up the heat on the Bruins’ chase of Lecavalier.
The Lightning used one of their compliance buyouts on Lecavalier Thursday. Tampa Bay will pay Lecavalier $32,666,667 over the next 14 years to be rid of his $7,727,273 annual cap hit.
“With what happened with Nathan, it became a little more ripe,” said Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli. “We had a good meeting.” Full story for BostonGlobe.com subscribers.
Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeFluto.
