Vincent Lecavalier snapped off the shot from the slot, and Patrick Roy -– as he has done so often over the years, even when Lecavalier was a child in the Montreal suburbs watching a standout Canadiens goaltender -- snagged the puck and held on.

	Vincent Lecavalier has 148 points and is minus-72 in 236 career games.

Lecavalier slammed his blade on the ice, not hard enough to cause breakage, but hard enough to make his frustration evident. This was last week in Denver, and the 21-year-old Lightning center emerged from the loss to Colorado still without a goal.

At the outset of his fourth season in the NHL, Lecavalier remains an intriguing mix of obvious talent and still-pending potential. That night, Roy said, "You can see that he has a lot of skills, and he’s going to become a premier player."

Lecavalier has a new four-year, $10.2 million contract after agreeing to terms on the eve of the regular-season opener, but then missing the Lightning’s first two games. He is the superstar in waiting, tantalizingly on the verge with the strong moves and uncanny playmaking that are remindful of why the name of that then-retired Hall of Famer -- Mario Lemieux -- kept coming up in the pre-draft discussions of Lecavalier.

Then and now, nobody pretends that he IS Mario Lemieux; those remain comparisons of style, stature and even childhood roots. Lecavalier was banged up much of last season, finishing with 23 goals and 51 points while missing 14 games, and it wasn’t perceived to be much of a step up in his developmental curve. This season, the Lightning have stripped the "C" off his sweater, and done it in a carefully orchestrated fashion that seeks to avoid leaving the impression that it was a ridiculous idea to name him the captain at age 19 in the first place. This season, Lecavalier, Fredrik Modin and Tim Taylor will be alternate captains and rotate the spokesman role.

It’s easy to forget sometimes, isn’t it? Lecavalier still is only 21. He didn’t have the luxury of being worked in slowly, as Alex Tanguay -– a fellow center from the Quebec League and the same 1998 draft crop -– was at Colorado (as a winger), for example. At New Jersey, Scott Gomez didn’t have the burden of immediately -– and unrealistically -– high expectations, whether placed by the knowledgeable hockey men or the season-ticket sales force.

With those "first overall" and even "once-in-every-five-years prospect" labels always there, you can be Dale Hawerchuk, score 601 goals and even have a Hall of Fame career and still have folks asking when you are done: Is that all there is?

With those "first overall" and even "once-in-every-five-years prospect" labels always there, you can be Dale Hawerchuk, score 601 goals and even have a Hall of Fame career and still have folks asking when you are done: Is that all there is?

With 61 goals in his first three seasons, Lecavalier has been impressive enough; and if the Lightning continue to fill in the gaps around him, he doesn’t even have to appreciably improve to start being mentioned among the absolute elite.

Which is why it bears repeating: He is only 21.

The pressures of stepping right into the lineup of a downtrodden team, of being considered the box-office draw long before it was fair, of wearing that "C" for over a year, haven’t yet seemed to ruin his development –- as has been known to happen with so many "can’t-miss" kids, especially since the entry draft age dropped to 18.

Slowly, the Lightning has been making progress, attempting to recover from mismanagement and the damage wrought by underfinanced, panicky past ownerships. The current core -– featuring Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Pavel Kubina and Modin -- supplemented by the addition of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, at least means the Lightning’s fans have some cause for optimism.

But it is a tortuous process for a 10-year-old franchise, and you still know that astute organizations will be waiting for this incarnation of the Lightning front office to panic and decide that a multiple-player CARE package of immediate help in a deal for Lecavalier would be the way to go. In that event, the rationalization would have to be unrealized potential. He still might be great someday, he’s pretty good now, but . . . shhhhh, maybe he even was overrated!

And then the Lightning would end up looking stupid. Again. Put Lecavalier with a good team, and –- voila! -- he suddenly would be that much better.

There are no indications -- none -- that the Lightning’s apparently savvy newest management, including GM Rick Dudley, is thinking that way. But that is the way this league can work when great prospects are with bad teams. And this is a guarantee that the temptation will be there for the Lightning before Lecavalier’s greatness –- and not just his promise -– emerges in the NHL.

Lecavalier enjoys living in the Tampa Bay area and the Lightning would be kings of the market if they ever become good.

	“	It’s going to be a great season, I think. It’s been tough the first three years, not making the playoffs, and being done for the season on April 9.”
		— Vincent Lecavalier

"This is a good mix here now -– vets, kids, good guys, leadership," Lecavalier said. "It’s going to be a great season, I think. It’s been tough the first three years, not making the playoffs, and being done for the season on April 9.

"But I was learning a lot from the older guys all along. I feel great now. This is my fourth year, and I feel real comfortable out there."

Coach John Tortorella -- who moved up from his assistant’s job to take over for the fired Steve Ludzik last January -- asked Lecavalier to use the stretch-run of last season as a laboratory.

"We were out of the playoffs, so he wanted me to work on the defensive part of my game, to only concentrate on that," Lecavalier said.

"But obviously, it can’t be like that all the time. I was drafted to create and play with the puck. But I also think it helped me to work hard defensively and let the offense come."

His holdout through training camp left him anxious and not in peak condition, so his slow start -– he has no goals and two assists in his first six games –- wasn’t a complete shock.

"I got a chance to practice with a college team to try and stay in shape, but it’s not the same," Lecavalier said. "I’m just happy to get the business done and put that all behind me."

Now Lecavalier and Richards, the Calder Trophy runnerup last season, are back on the ice together, just as they were at the Notre Dame prep school in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, and with the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL.

"It's not a hockey friendship," Richards said. "There are always hockey players who are friends at the games. But this is a best-buddies, growing-up friendship. It's very special to be on the same team in the NHL."

They’re hoping to remain teammates through a Lightning ascension to respectability – and more. But it’s going to take continued patience nand realism. By everyone involved.

Terry Frei of The Denver Post is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. His feedback e-mail address is ChipHilton23@hotmail.com.