News: St. Petersburg Times 4/5/98
Tucker Earning His Keep, Money
By Tim Buckley
When Phil Esposito suggested during
recent contract negotiations that Darcy Tucker's
individual bonus incentives should be tied to team
success, Tucker told the Lightning general manager how
he felt.
"I said, "If we don't make the playoffs, I shouldn't get
a bonus,' " said Tucker, who has officially signed the
new contract he recently agreed to -- a four-year deal
worth about $3.2-million.
"Those bonuses," Tucker said, "aren't for guys who sit
at home over the summer watching the Stanley Cup
playoffs."
With his new deal, Tucker more than triples his annual
salary of $225,000. That is quite a raise for someone
who never got off the fourth line in Montreal, which
traded him to Tampa Bay as part of a six-player deal on
Jan. 15.
The key to earning it, Tucker said, is simple: "It's not
that hard when you play as much as I have here."
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