The saga of Roberto Luongo’s time in Vancouver has taken some interesting turns recently. After requesting a trade during the summer of 2012, Canucks GM Mike Gillis allegedly did everything he could to trade his franchise netminder but ultimately ran out of options. We saw the trade of Luongo’s crease partner Cory Schneider at the recent NHL draft instead and, what many thought, the end of this whole mess.
Not so fast though. Luongo’s reaction to the trade still wasn’t known. The man was thought to have “mentally divorced” himself from the team a long time ago. Yet publicly, nobody knows how he has reacted to the news that he will once again be the starter in Vancouver next fall. One assumes that Luongo is the consummate professional and as such would tighten up his pads and get back to work. But how can he refocus after months of wanting to leave the team and again be the guy expected to lead them to a Stanley Cup?
Canucks management has done everything to placate the 34 year old netminder. Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini personally flew to Luongo’s summer home in Florida to break the news to him that Schneider has been traded. Gillis likewise has met with him and described the conversations as friendly and said he was, “very optimistic” about the goaltender’s return. However, it may not be enough to please someone who has been through the wringer, harassed by fans and the media all season long in an intense hockey market.
Then a few days ago came an interesting twist: it was announced that Luongo was dropping his long-time agent Gilles Lupien (the man who helped orchestrate his now infamous 12 year contract) in favour of Pat Brisson. Many took this as a sign that he was still in fact exploring his options to leave the team, though Brisson himself stated the reason being, “He has been through a lot the past 18 to 24 months and needed a different voice and sounding board.”
Still, through all of this, Luongo himself has yet to say anything publicly about his intentions since the end of the playoffs. One clue did come through his infamous twitter account, when he posted yesterday:
“@Strombone1 Hey @eddielack I’m warning you now! Don’t get any ideas this upcoming season!!! Got it???”
Eddie Lack is of course the defacto back-up in Vancouver now that Schneider is gone. Luongo, in his usual comedic style, was pointing out the humour of his previous back-up taking his job. Many fans took a sigh of relief, seeing this as a sign that Luongo did intend to be back in the blue and green next season. Further strengthening that point was a press release yesterday from Brisson that stated, “Roberto has a contract and is preparing to be at training camp.”
So the saga has finally come to an end right? Well not really. While it seems that Luongo will be the Canuck’s starter for at least one more season, it’s still possible that he could be gone next summer. Vancouver only used one of its two compliance buyouts this summer, and it’s very likely they could use their second on Luongo next year. Frankly, with the recent cap recapture penalty instituted in the new CBA it makes a lot of sense.
Additionally, the Canucks have two outstanding young goaltenders waiting in the wings in the form of 25 year old Lack and 23 year old Joacim Eriksson, one of the top goaltenders in Sweden’s SEL. It’s entirely possible that the team may wait and see how these two young Swedes develop next season and if they like what they see, trust the goaltending duties to them while letting Luongo walk. In a sense, he could be simply holding the fort for this season until the depth is ready to take over. So while the situation with Luongo in Vancouver has certainly come into focus recently, it’s still far from over.
Thanks for reading, as feel free to follow me on twitter @CanuckPuckHead. Give the rest of the hockey department a follow while you’re at it – @LastWordBigMick, @TheHockeyMitch, @ddmatthews, @lastwordBKerr, and @LastWordOnNHL, and follow the site @lastwordonsport.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? If so, check out our “Join Our Team” page to find out how.
Main photo credit: PiscesDreamer via photopin cc
