According to a report from TSN Wednesday night, sources indicate that Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo will be submitting a short list of teams to GM Mike Gillis to facilitate his departure from the Canucks and that the Toronto Maple Leafs are among the teams on that list.
Luongo, who turned 33 years old on April 4th lost his job to understudy Cory Schnieder after losing the first two games of the Canucks first round match against the Los Angeles Kings and stated in remarks to the press on Tuesday that he would waive his no-trade clause if asked by Gillis to do so. Slightly contradicting that statement, Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos reported that the Canucks have not asked the goaltender to waive his no-trade clause, but that Luongo is initiating his exodus, telling the team in his exit meeting that he wants out.
According to Yahoo Sports Greg Wyshynski, the Tampa Bay Lightning is also on the list of destinations that Luongo would choose to go to.
The fact that Luongo has initiated the process of being moved puts Gillis between a rock and a hard place to get any significant return for the veteran. The Canucks cannot have the media circus of a disgruntled Luongo sitting on the bench as a backup making over $5 Million and need to open up cap space to sign Schnieder to a long term deal, as he is a restricted free agent on July 1.
Gillis being able to generate a bidding war to increase his return for the netminder is unlikely since Luongo has complete control of where he will go and the list of teams he will provide will be relatively small(similar to Rick Nash).
There will be speculation running amuck until the deal is finally made that Vancouver will want futures like Tampa‘s Victor Hedman, Toronto’s fifth overall pick or Jake Gardiner as a part of any package. If any GM gives up future assets like that for a goalie in the second half of his career with an onerous contract, their sanity should be questioned.
Vancouver may get some future assets(probably a draft pick or decent prospect) in a deal, but for them to get a significant return, they might have to take back significant salary from their trading partner.
What is the most that you would give up for Luongo??
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