Roberto Luongo is finally able to move on from his much publicized contract in Vancouver, and just go home to Florida and play hockey. Last year, NHL trade rumors involving the Vancouver Canuck franchise goalie were the hottest gossip in all of sports.
Today, one day before the 2014 NHL trade deadline a day filled with mostly small deals, Roberto Luongo once again manages to steal the spotlight. By some miracle the Vancouver Canucks were able to work out a deal with the Florida Panthers taking on most of Luongo’s mammoth contract. In exchange Vancouver has received young goaltending prospect: Jacob Markstrom and centre Shawn Matthias. These are two blue-chip pieces that hockey experts believe will be the future of the game. In short, this signals a really strong start to the Vancouver Canucks rebuilt. I guess the aspirations of the Stanley Cup run are put on hold for this season.
I’m not sure why Florida would give away their future like this? I mean I know Luongo has a family home in South Florida, and he has wanted to go back to where it all began for quite some time. He had wanted to return to the organization last year during the Cory Schneider saga when Luongo lost the Canucks starting job to a different young net-minder, but general manager Mike Gillis was unable to complete a trade and instead moved Schneider to New Jersey at the 2013 draft.
Now the Florida Panthers are stuck with most of the infamous ridiculous contract; Luongo incredibly still has another eight years remaining on that deal, a 12-year, $64-million deal he signed in 2009 at the peak of his game.
“I thought my contract was immovable,” Luongo told TSN Radio on Tuesday night. “I would never have thought I’d be traded before the deadline.”
“The trade ends Luongo’s nearly eight season run with the Canucks that included a Hart Trophy nomination, two Vezina Trophy nominations, a run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in 2011 and two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada.”
I won’t deny that the Florida Panthers are getting extremely talented goalie, and the best part is he wants to play for the team!
Having said this, everybody knows this is an extremely lucky situation for the Vancouver Canucks, who wanted to and this bad marriage desperately. Actually, no matter what happens in the future as a result of this trade both, The Canucks and Luongo have to be happy. For the short-term the Florida Panthers will have a feeling of ecstasy as well. Who knows how long that lasts….
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