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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

What's Next For Roberto Luongo?

In its final media session of the season, Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo came out and said the one thing that people were wondering: would he waive his NTC (no trade clause) and choose to leave Vancouver?  Simply put, yes he would.
Luongo has been a goalie who has come under a lot of scrutiny over the past few seasons, called a choke-artist and titled the "goalie that can't win the big game."  Now, the 33-year old netminder, who was replaced after Game 2 in favor of the young, up-and-coming Cory Schneider, is on the hot seat as to whether he would be willing to come back.
With Schneider an RFA (restricted free agent), it is obvious that the Canucks are in a tough spot about whether or not it wants to commit to Luongo for the remaining 10 years of his 12yrs/$64mill and let Schneider walk.  But, after this past playoff series, a 4-1 series loss to the eighth-seeded LA Kings, a series in which Schneider played three of the five games and earning the only victory, all the while playing very well for the Canucks, it seems that the short leash on Luongo has all but run out and it is time for him to leave.

Luckily, for Luongo and the Canucks, his contract was front-loaded, with $16 million of his contract already paid for in the first two seasons, he shouldn't be too hard to ship out.  He is still due $38 million over the next 10 seasons, but his cap hit is $5.33 million, not making him too unreasonable to bring on, especially if its a team who is in need of a goalie (i.e. the New Jersey Devils).
Schneider, who is very close, if not already, is in his prime and will demand a pretty penny and it won't surprise me if Vancouver gives him what he wants.  So I ask the question: where will Luongo wind up next?
We already went over all of the cap stuff regarding Luongo, now it's a matter of trying to come up with a list of teams who are in need of a #1 goalie and have the pieces to give up to obtain him.  My first team, I already stated above, is the New Jersey Devils.  They have over $12 million in caps space available, but only 13 players under contract for next season.  They'll definitely have to give up a couple players to get Luongo, but can definitely take on his contract.  And oh yeah, both future-HOF goalie Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg are UFAs at the end of this season.
The second team I see him going to is, well back to Florida.  He really came onto the scene in Florida and the Panthers have close to $24 million in cap space and are losing back-up goaltender Scott Clemmensen to free agency.  Veteran netminder Jose Theodore is under contract for one more year, but at a measly $1.5 million.  It has 16 players under contract for next season, but a few key RFAs it will need to re-sign, including Wojtek Wolski and Kris Versteeg.
My final destination is the Edmonton Oilers.  Edmonton is a young team, who are just a few small steps and pieces away from finally making the playoffs.  They have the space to take on his contract and also some pieces that Vancouver will be willing to accept in return.  Nikolai Khabibulin is under contract for one more year at $3.75 million and after taking a backseat to Devin Dubnyk in the latter part of the season, he can clearly handle being an over-paid backup.
The options will be there, now we just have to wait and see.

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