Is Gillis all talk or will Luongo actually be moved

by Brandt Corbin

 

    Here we go again.

    Remember back in November and even December the deal that would see the Toronto Maple Leafs for Tyler Bozak; plus extras in return for all star goaltender Roberto Luongo was a done deal. It wasn’t a maybe it was suppose to be a completed deal, signed sealed and delivered the minute the lockout ended. How in the middle of a NHL lockout, does this information get leaked to select members of the media; main reason being, no transactions or signings can be done during this time.

    Then the lockout ended; the talks were not even close to being done between the Leafs & Canucks; with Vancouver not happy with the rate of return. And again select reports via the media come out of new teams (Philadelphia Flyers) “are kicking the tires” on Luongo. Within 24 hours Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said “That made me chuckle," he told the Daily News.

   Now late Monday night, magically out of the blue yet again; according to Canucks general manager Mike Gillis, there is a yet another pending deal for Roberto Luongo? But there’s a catch..."We have a potential deal in place with one team that has to do something with another player that they have — and it's not who anybody thinks it is — and so we have to wait. (But) we've been offered packages that don't fit what our plan is, what we need," Gillis told the Vancouver Sun. But wait there is more. "(Teams would offer) excess salary coming back with a [throw-in] player who can't play in our lineup. They say, 'OK, we'll do this, but you've got to take this.' Well, we're not taking it. We've had lots of proposals like that with good pieces that can help us but the other part doesn't help us, and oftentimes they have term attached to them, so we'd just be turning around and buying out a guy,” finished Gillis.

     Fool me once, fool me twice; but a third time I think not. For me it’s quite plain and simple. Gillis is trying to create himself a market that just isn’t there. He refuses to recognize that teams do not want a 33 year old goaltender, with 10 years left on his contract, and has a 5,333,333 contract hit each year.  The fact is this, he will either need to take less back then expected and/or yes take back another bad contract. As an example; Bozak & Mike Komisarek; or Matt Read & Niklas Grossman from the Flyers; or RJ Umberger & Steve Mason.  Until Gillis accepted this, he’s stuck with a “goalie controversy” that he’s created himself.