Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis may not be publicly showing it yet, but he is going to be desperate to move Roberto Luongo at some point before the season. I don't see any way Luongo can walk back into the Vancouver locker room at this point.
Luongo spoke publicly this past week and acknowledged that his time in Vancouver is over and he is ready to move on. His preferred destination is the Florida Panthers. They are a good young team that is definitely on the rise, and he would be a nice piece since they really struggled in the net this year. However, the Panthers have their goalie of the future in Jacob Markstrom. They have no reason to bring in a veteran goalie who probably has another 5 to 6 good years in him.
That leaves two options floating in the rumor circles right now. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Blackhawks. I think at this point the Maple Leafs are the odds on favorite. Especially considering they don't play the Canucks more than twice a year. Whereas they see plenty of the Blackhawks. It will all depend what Toronto is willing to offer up though. Regardless of a rivalry though, Gillis has to take the offer that makes his team better.
Anytime a goalie is mentioned in free agency or the possibility of a trade all the "experts" assume the Blackhawks will get involved. I trust that the Hawks coaches and brass will know whether or not they can get Corey Crawford back to his 2010-11 form. It seems that the "experts" don't think that will happen.
If the Hawks decided to trade for Luongo, and Gillis was desperate enough to send him here I would be good with it. Here are my 3 main reasons:
1) He is better than Crawford, Emery and anything in the Hawks system.
2) His contract is long (til 2022) and cap hit is $5.333 milllion, but that will seem like a bargain as NHL revenue grows and the salary cap continues to increase.
3) He has A LOT to prove
At 33 years old Luongo is far from done. Is he a head case sometimes? Absolutely. Can he win you games by himself? Absolutely. Can he win a Stanley Cup? I think so, but that is reason #3 that I would bring him in. That's what he has left to prove. He's won Olympic Gold already. ONE GOAL as we say here in Chicago.
If the Hawks make an offer I'd have to imagine they will push to get Crawford moved in the trade. Everyone seems to want to make Hjalmarsson a center piece in this possibility. If Vancouver does take Hjalmarsson the Blackhawks might have to take back someone like defensman Andrew Alberts. Vancouver already has a lot of money committed to defense so they may want to include a defenseman coming back here.
I would guess that Stan Bowman's approach will be to wait out Vancouver and see how desperate they get. Even if Toronto made a good offer Gillis will shop it around to other suitors to get the best deal he can in return.
The thought of Roberto Luongo in the Indian head, much less being cheered in Chicago feels rather strange. However, if it fixes our goaltending issue for 5 or more years I am all in.
No comments:
Post a Comment