Another trade deadline has come and gone and Roberto Luongo remains with the Vancouver Canucks. Once again, the team failed to trade away the veteran goalie. It was not for lack of effort as Luongo gained plenty of interest from teams around the league. As Cory Schneider continues to emerge as the starting goalie and future of the team, Luongo is forced to take a back seat. The goalie claims his contract was the main hurdle in every trade, but he remains committed to the team.
Luongo was visably upset when he addressed the media following the end of the trading period on Wednesday. He believes his inflated contract is the problem and he would scrap it if he had the chance.
"My contract sucks. That's what the problem is," Luongo said.
Luongo is currently signed to a 12-year, $64 million contract that will last him through the 2022 season. That type of contact is now banned under the new CBA. He will cost the Canucks $5.3 million in salary cap space. He will return to the team as the backup to Schneider and Vancouver will have over $10 million in salary cap space invested to goalies alone.
Multiple teams had shown interest in Luongo. The Toronto Maple Leafs had been the main player in trade talks for the veteran who helped lead Vancouver to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010-11 as well as leading Canada to a gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The two parties began talking before the 2013 season began, but a trade was never finalized. Negotiations heated up again during the current trading period, but yet again, nothing came of it.
Luongo stressed that he will return to focusing on what he can do to help the team win and that he is very proud to a Vancouver Canuck. Luongo admitted he was upset that another team was not willing to take a chance on him.
"It's a hit on your pride that teams aren't willing to give up much," Luongo said.
This season, Luongo has seen a significant decrease in playing time. In his 16 appearances he has posted a .904 saves percentage which is his lowest saves percentage since his rookie season. He has a 7-3 record.
It is likely that Vancouver will continue to push for a trade for Luongo in the summer. Come the offseason more teams may appear to be interested. What Luongo's future looks like remains to be seen.
