While the NHL world was busy searching for their collective jaws on the floor after Shea Weber was signed last night, things remained quiet in Vancouver. The Canucks made their one big free agent move earlier this summer when they signed Jason Garrison and re-signed Cory Schneider but everyone is still in limbo waiting for Roberto Luongo to be traded.
It seems that he will, as both the goalie and the club seem to want him in another sweater this coming season. With the signing of Schneider certainly they can’t have both be on the roster at the same time. That would be crazy. Wouldn’t it?
But what if that happens?
While everyone agrees that Vancouver probably should move Luongo, there have not been many takers beating down the Canucks door this off season. The likely candidate to acquire Luongo would be the Florida Panthers. He likes Florida, they like him, his wife is from there and the team could be a Roberto Luongo away from making a more serious playoff run.
So why hasn’t it happened?
Most likely it’s because Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis is asking for too much, such as Jonathan Huberdeau and Erik Gudbranson who are top prospects with the Panthers. It could also be that the Panthers and General Manager Dave Tallon have a young goalie they think is the real deal in Jacob Markstrom, whom they believe will be their starter in a year or two.
The two franchises, which have seemingly only traded with each other, can’t seem to come together on this deal.
Outside of the Panthers there have been rumblings that Toronto may or may not want Luongo and even a juicy story about Luongo potentially agreeing to play for the Chicago Blackhawks.
As the season inches closer and closer the Canucks might need to brace themselves for opening training camp with both Roberto Luongo, Cory Schneider and $9 million of cap space in net for them.
Surely that will spell disaster.
Maybe not.
There are definitely potential prat falls by having two high profile and two highly paid goalies on your roster that could spell trouble. Will Luongo be the happy and supportive teammate sitting on the bench? Will the Canucks hamstring themselves by having the most cap space of any NHL team tied up in net?
So far Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider have handled the situation with class. Both seem to understand the situation, nobody has complained and nobody has found themselves lying under the wheels of a bus. By all indications Luongo understands that the team has chosen Schneider to be the number one goalie. That decision that was crystal clear when they gave Schneider the reins after two playoff games last year.
Luongo is a veteran player who has been traded twice already in his career and understands the business of hockey. He will understand that just because he has not been traded before camp starts it does not mean he will be stuck languishing on the bench and only getting those rare Tuesday night starts against Columbus. There is no reason to believe he will start chirping and cause a distraction.
While the $9 million in cap space is not something that Vancouver wants to carry long term it won’t hurt them in the short term. Even with both contracts they have close to $10 million left of cap space to make some moves with. This is the reason you have seen them in the Shane Doan sweepstakes, they still have money to spend. They could bring in Doan, they could trade someone else and take on salary, they still have options.
On top of all that, in some ways holding onto Luongo into camp and the start of the season may actually improve his trade value. As camp starts, as the season starts and as teams like Chicago, Toronto and Florida watch puck after puck end up in the back of their nets they will come calling, hat in hand begging for Gillis’ mercy. Might Florida be willing to part with Huberdeau if Markstrom gets lit up early in the season? Will the pressure to win for Brian Burke in Toronto make him reach for his rolodex and offer the moon?
There doesn’t seem to be any pressure for Toronto or Florida to pull the trigger now, so why not wait until they see the losses piling up? If they never come through then you still have a pretty strong goaltending tandem and can always try again next off season.
The potential problem to holding onto Luongo for the entire season would be that the Canucks still need to improve their roster. They are desperate for at least one more top six forward and after scanning the remaining un-signed free agents it is unclear where that guy comes from, if not from the Luongo trade. Shane Doan is out there but it seems he wants a multi-year deal and the thought of throwing good money at an aging player is a bit scary. Who else is out there? Alex Semin? Please.
So while Gillis and the Canucks don’t need to panic now, they still need to keep working the phones.
Either way, they are still in a good position to move Luongo and improve their team, just don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen for a month or two from now.
Good article. Sometimes it is not so much about trading the player as it as about trading the contract though. Luongo may be solid, but he has a nightmare contract. Komisarek is a small fraction of the player Luongo is, but so is his contract. As a Toronto fan I cannot doubt Luongo would significantly improve our team, but I am more compelled to throw the dice on Reimer again than pay Luongo for a decade.
Vancouver doesn’t have to do anything they don’t want to do. But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that they’re not the team in the corner here. The commenter’s notion that suggests komisarek for Luongo is preposterous. Luongo is a top 10 goalie, any team would be lucky to have him. Gudbransson and Weiss would also be preposterous. Vancouver will at one point need to cut bait. It won’t be to Toronto. 10 years is far too long. I personally would love to see him stay and watch the good people of Van City get their first cup, after all its been a while. Nice piece Andy. Btw- what do you think happens when Vancouver losses start piling up?
If the Canucks start off poorly (which they’ve done for the past five years) and Luongo is still on the roster it will be chaos. My main concern is that the team is still lacking a top six player, or two, and the only way I see them getting that is through a trade.
There is a rumour floating around out there that Robbie Lou might be willing to rethink the term or the yearly salary cap number if he actually goes to Tampa or Florida directly, any other team he will stick to his contract terms.
I doubt they have a rough start. I was just really playing the devils advocate. But I agree with you that if it is the case, it could be a disaster.
Interesting rumor, too bad it completely goes against the CBA rules. No such thing as renegotiating contracts in the NHL
Interesting rumor G.T. Is he able to do that under the CBA?
One of the better angles on the Luongo situation I’ve come across, I agree with the writer, Vancouver has the best goalie tandem in the league, if you gave me the chance to have the best goalie tandem in the NHL and it meant that I paid a couple extra mill I would take it every time.
Only a delusional Leaf fan thinks Gillis has to take Mike Komiserek for Roberto Luongo.
Vancouver shouldn’t and won’t throw away A TOP 10 goalie away for peanuts, his cap hit is totally reasonable and in fact will be a total bargain in 2 years form now.
Luongo played fine in the playoffs and was pulled merely as a last ditch attempt at a momentum shift.
Fans that watched every game this year saw Roberto Luongo almost singlehandedly win Vancouver the President’s Trophy.
Florida should be prepared to lose Weiss and Gudbranson at the very least , Toronto doesn’t really have any assets that any team wants.
Gillis is no idiot, he will play the Luongo card when the market is right and best players are offered, not throwaway garbage or sucker deal from Brian Burke.
But how badly does Roberto want to be in Vancouver, right? It almost seems like he really does want out of there, and I don’t blame him seeing as though he’s basically lost his No. 1 job.
Does that mean move him for the sake of it? Certainly not. I think Gillis is doing the right thing in being patient, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the price is somewhat lowered before the season begins.
The two reasons I think Luongo doesn’t fit in Toronto: The move doesn’t work out for him, Gillis, or the Leafs, with the latter being backed up by the fact that James Reimer has proven he can succeed with veteran help. Roberto isn’t that guy as he’d want the full No. 1 job.
i’m not sure Luongo wants to play under the microscope in Toronto either so obviously the anonymity factor in Miami is appealing to him. I’m also not convinced that you couldn’t talk Roberto into being content in Vancouver for a while till the right situation opens up, besides its way less pressure on Luo if Cory is perceived as #1. Either way the guy is a very solid tender and Gillis will get value in return as he’s not gonna rush a deal.
Luongo’s acting cordial now, but as training camp gets closer and closer I think his understanding and patience will wear thin. He wants out. He does not want to play in Vancouver. All sides are playing nice now, but I expect things to pick up in a big way come August.
Legit worry, I think that since he and Schneider have a great relationship the tipping point will come later than it might otherwise.
I agree Dave. Luongo will not want to start the season in Vancouver especially sitting on the bench as the backup. Close to the start of the season he’ll ride hard for a trade out of town
Luongo’s acting cordial now, but as training camp gets closer and closer I think his understanding and patience will wear thin. He wants out. He does not want to play in Vancouver. All sides are playing nice now, but I expect things to pick up in a big way come August.