Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleach Clean
People are acting like we want to send him to TOR, like we want to push Lu there, why? What difference does it make for Canucks fans where Lu ends up? He could go to another team, and it wouldn't make a lick of difference.
You don't want to try to make the playoffs? Cool. Move on. Done. On to the next. No hard feelings.
Gillis wants good roster player + good prospect + 1st. Why? Trade a star player for a few lesser assets. It's how trades go. Could be any team involved, Gillis will try to shoot for that package. Now, if some team were to give him an equal quality vet in return, say like a Shane Doan, that's an easy hockey trade. But most teams don't have that, so you ask for the package. All this is, is recognizing that you will not get an equal quality asset in return for Luongo. That's just the reality of the situation.
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There aren't going to be many teams, if any, that will pay that price for Luongo, and Gillis isn't an idiot, he has to know that. This is all part of the negotiations right now and he's set his bar. He knows he won't finish there.
The only team that I can think of that *may* have interest in paying that kind of a price, would be the Islanders. It would involve the Canucks taking on DiPeitro's contract and buying him out using one of their amnesty buyouts. The Isles are also a team that is in good position to give up that kind of value in assets, especially if the Canucks are eating money as part of their deal (DiPeitro's buyout/Luongo's contract). They have a disgruntled top prospect who wants out, and several veteran options with money on their contracts making it easier to move out one (Okposo, Nielsen, Moulson, Visnovsky, Streit).
Might make sense for them to get a legitimate and established starter at this stage, given that they must be done with rebuilding by now, and they have several young players ready to contribute at the next level.
That's probably the only team I can think of that would have interest in Luongo at that price (granted it would come with a big salary buyout and/or eating salary). For the Isles there would be financial benefits as well, which a franchise like that will give value to buying out huge contracts, and taking on a contract where a lot of the money has been paid off... they're also a team that will never play at the salary cap anyways, so to have dead cap space, while paying less in $$ for it, would be a benefit for that team long-term.
Most other teams don't have the prospect depth and being at that stage where they're looking to get to the playoffs now consistently with a good young team on the rise... most teams also won't have the financial motivation to make a deal like this.
And who knows, maybe Luongo will waive his NTC to go to the Island - where he was first drafted and started his career. It's not far from Florida, and I'm sure his wife won't hate the Hamptons.