Vancouver Canucks Not In A Hurry to Trade Roberto Luongo
By Josh Hill
Much has been made about the Vancouver Canucks placing veteran goalie Roberto Luongo on the trade block, but while they’ve been trying to hype him up, not a whole lot has happened. Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said on Monday that if Luongo starts the season in net for the Canucks, there are worse things that can happen.
“He’s an All-Star goalie,” veteran Canucks GM Mike Gillis told ESPN.com Monday. “It’s a completely media-driven notion that we have to do this quickly and it’s going to be a terrible situation [if Luongo starts the season in Vancouver]. It wasn’t a terrible situation last year and it won’t be this year if he’s here.”
It’s largely believed that should the Canucks move Luongo, they’ll want a roster player and a top prospect in return. One of those two players will probably be a goalie, as if Luongo is moved the Canucks would need a replacement for him to start the season. If a goalie isn’t acquired in a trade for Luongo, the Canucks would have to have one ready to sign via free agency.
So after almost a year’s worth of speculation, all this Roberto Luongo trade talk has been a load of malarkey the whole time.
The biggest trade destination this whole time has been the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that fired their general manager this weekend in the middle of trade talks for Luongo. Dan Murphy from SportsNet Canada believes that Toronto has other trade options besides Luongo, but they’re just as difficult to meet.
One goalie on the Leaf’s radar appears to be St. Louis Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak and L.A. Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier. Halak likely won’t be moved by the Blues unless he’s outright out-played by Brian Elliot.
Spectors Hockey suggests that the Kings aren’t in any hurry to move Bernier, which is ironic considering the Kings offered him up to the Leafs last season and were turned away by the recently fired Brian Burke.
Toronto might have to settle for what they have at the moment in net, as moving pieces in a trade for a top-notch goalie isn’t coming together like they hoped it would. Luongo is likely being dangled at too high a price and everyone else they want simply isn’t on the block at the moment.
A lot can change between now and the trade deadline, but for now it seems that James Reimer is the guy for the Leafs whether they like it or not.