The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

[gopher_guy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Anybody want Luongo for a bag of pucks?

I think Schneider is the better goaltender but you cant let Luongo be the backup because he's under contract until 2021-2022. I think Gillis is a good GM but it's extremely stupid to give any goalie a 12 year contract and it's even worse when you give it out when the goalie is already 30 years old.

I hope there's something in the new CBA that gives the Canucks an escape route from this contract.

12 year contract to a 30 year old goalie??? O_o

[Kobalt]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Anybody want Luongo for a bag of pucks?

I think Schneider is the better goaltender but you cant let Luongo be the backup because he's under contract until 2021-2022. I think Gillis is a good GM but it's extremely stupid to give any goalie a 12 year contract and it's even worse when you give it out when the goalie is already 30 years old.

I hope there's something in the new CBA that gives the Canucks an escape route from this contract.

I'm sure Islanders will gladly swap DiPietro for him

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Do you think they would "amnesty" him if given the opportunity?

It would depend on the amnesty and what happens during the playoffs this year. If the Canucks win the Cup and Luongo is in net than he wouldn't go anywhere.

If the amnesty involved paying off the rest of his contract, I don't see the Canucks doing it. If the amnesty was just paying off %50 left on his contract than I think the Canucks would consider it.

I think the more realistic result is that Luongo stays on the Canucks and Scheider leaves as a free agent once his contract is up. I don't see a team that would trade for Luongo because of the length of his contract.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

I'm sure Islanders will gladly swap DiPietro for him

Thanks for reminding there is actually a worse goaltender contract out there. I was talking to a friend last week about how nobody would trade for Luongo and than he said what about if the Islanders offered DiPietro. I said I wouldm't make that deal. Luongo is actually a good goalie and the same can't be said for DiPietro.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Thanks for reminding there is actually a worse goaltender contract out there. I was talking to a friend last week about how nobody would trade for Luongo and than he said what about if the Islanders offered DiPietro. I said I wouldm't make that deal. Luongo is actually a good goalie and the same can't be said for DiPietro.

Also worth mentioning that Luongo's contract is essentially 8/57 (he's only owed 7M total over the last 4 years of the contract) but has been stretched out to 12 years to keep the cap hit down, whereas DiPietro's contract is amoritized.

[Kobalt]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

It would depend on the amnesty and what happens during the playoffs this year. If the Canucks win the Cup and Luongo is in net than he wouldn't go anywhere.

If the amnesty involved paying off the rest of his contract, I don't see the Canucks doing it. If the amnesty was just paying off %50 left on his contract than I think the Canucks would consider it.

I think the more realistic result is that Luongo stays on the Canucks and Scheider leaves as a free agent once his contract is up. I don't see a team that would trade for Luongo because of the length of his contract.

No way Canucks will just let Schneider walk away. If they can't trade Luongo, they'll trade Schneider and get some good value back. You also have couple more years until Schneider reach UFA status so there is a lot of time.

It's sad, but end is here for Marty Brodeur.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

If the amnesty involved paying off the rest of his contract, I don't see the Canucks doing it. If the amnesty was just paying off %50 left on his contract than I think the Canucks would consider it.

Unless Luongo plays lights-out for the rest of the season, I think the Canucks would jump at the chance to pay him the remaining $47M to go away. It's not as if they can't afford it.

I think the more realistic result is that Luongo stays on the Canucks and Scheider leaves as a free agent once his contract is up. I don't see a team that would trade for Luongo because of the length of his contract.

Schneider's an RFA, he can't just walk away. Most likely the Canucks will trade his rights shortly after the playoffs are over, like Montreal did with Halak in 2010. I agree that Luongo's contract is untradeable; if the Canucks want to keep Schneider, they'll have to give Luongo the Redden/Huet treatment, and I don't think they have the cojones to do so.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

No way Canucks will just let Schneider walk away. If they can't trade Luongo, they'll trade Schneider and get some good value back. You also have couple more years until Schneider reach UFA status so there is a lot of time.

Disagree. This is going to be settled one way or another this offseason. If Schneider plays 30+ games and puts up ace numbers, he's going to want a.) a starting job, and b.) $$$. The Canucks are tight against the cap ceiling with Schneider making 900K, they're not going to pay him 2.5M+ to backup Luongo for a season or two. Either Vancouver finds a way to unload Luongo's contract or they trade Schneider before July 1.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Unless Luongo plays lights-out for the rest of the season, I think the Canucks would jump at the chance to pay him the remaining $47M to go away (that's almost the amount of the Islanders payroll this season). It's not as if they can't afford it.



Schneider's an RFA, he can't just walk away. Most likely the Canucks will trade his rights shortly after the playoffs are over, like Montreal did with Halak in 2010. I agree that Luongo's contract is untradeable; if the Canucks want to keep Schneider, they'll have to give Luongo the Redden/Huet treatment, and I don't think they have the cojones to do so.

While I agree the Canucks could afford to buy him out, 47 million dollars is still a lot of money. Gillis would be admitting he made a huge mistake by giving out that contract. I must say Luongo takes a lot of crap from the Canucks fanbase considering he's a good goalie.

I wonder if there's a match between the Canucks and Blue Jackets in a trade. The Blue Jackets are probably going to have a new GM in the off-season and they need a goalie. I wonder if a Schneider/Booth/Hodgson/1st Round Pick/2nd Round Pick for Nash trade would work (now of course other players might need to be involved to make it fit under the cap).

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Ryan Whitney tried to end Cal Clutterbuck's season tonight.

[AutoMG]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Man, that JHow save on Gilroy's breakaway was just nasty,

Wings streak goes to 6.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

While I agree the Canucks could afford to buy him out, 47 million dollars is still a lot of money. Gillis would be admitting he made a huge mistake by giving out that contract. I must say Luongo takes a lot of crap from the Canucks fanbase considering he's a good goalie.

A lot of the criticism is unwarranted, true, but it's still a problem. Luongo is always going to be under the magnifying glass now. He's always going to doubted at home and razzed on the road and by the hockey media (and in some cases, even the mainstream media). Everyone will always be waiting for the wheels to come off. Every bad goal, every playoff loss, is part of his "narrative" now, and he'll be blamed whether it's his fault or not.

Unfair? Sure. A lot of people around this town have been total dicks to him. But even Luongo's staunchest defenders have to admit that he will crack spectacularly under pressure from time to time. Not to mention that even when he's playing well (Luongo still has the ability to make spectacular saves), he often fights the puck and has middling-to-terrible rebound control. Look at footage from the 06/07 season: that Luongo played a beautiful butterfly style, showed an excellent glove hand and rebound control, and never flopped straight forward after stopping a shot. Whether it's due to mental or physical (residue of the groin injury suffered in Pittsburgh?) reasons, that Luongo has rarely been seen since. Considering he's not getting any younger and the fact that the scrutiny will never go away, I don't think he'll ever truly recover his form. While it's not inconceivable that the Canucks could still win a Cup with him, they'd be better off parting ways.

I wonder if there's a match between the Canucks and Blue Jackets in a trade. The Blue Jackets are probably going to have a new GM in the off-season and they need a goalie. I wonder if a Schneider/Booth/Hodgson/1st Round Pick/2nd Round Pick for Nash trade would work (now of course other players might need to be involved to make it fit under the cap).

You need depth to win a Cup. How are the Canucks going to fill in their 3rd/4th lines if they trade most of it for Nash's 7.8M cap hit? Not to mention the currently underpaid players who'll be looking for dough in 2013 (Burrows, Edler).

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

A lot of the criticism is unwarranted, true, but it's still a problem. Luongo is always going to be under the magnifying glass now. He's always going to doubted at home and razzed on the road and by the hockey media (and in some cases, even the mainstream media). Everyone will always be waiting for the wheels to come off. Every bad goal, every playoff loss, is part of his "narrative" now, and he'll be blamed whether it's his fault or not.

Unfair? Sure. A lot of people around this town have been total dicks to him. But even Luongo's staunchest defenders have to admit that he will crack spectacularly under pressure from time to time. Not to mention that even when he's playing well (Luongo still has the ability to make spectacular saves), he often fights the puck and has middling-to-terrible rebound control. Look at footage from the 06/07 season: that Luongo played a beautiful butterfly style, showed an excellent glove hand and rebound control, and never flopped straight forward after stopping a shot. Whether it's due to mental or physical (residue of the groin injury suffered in Pittsburgh?) reasons, that Luongo has rarely been seen since. Considering he's not getting any younger and the fact that the scrutiny will never go away, I don't think he'll ever truly recover his form. While it's not inconceivable that the Canucks could still win a Cup with him, they'd be better off parting ways.



You need depth to win a Cup. How are the Canucks going to fill in their 3rd/4th lines if they trade most of it for Nash's 7.8M cap hit? Not to mention the currently underpaid players who'll be looking for dough in 2013 (Burrows, Edler).

The Canucks fanbase was begging for an "great' goaltender ever since Captain Kirk was traded and now that they have one, they want to run him out of town. I pretty much agree with everything you said in the first paragraph. I would also add his puck handling skills are horrible and he has never improved in this area.

I'm not too worried about the depth of the team. The Canucks shouldn't have any trouble finding depth players for a cheap price considering we are a Cup Contender. The Salary Cap will probably go up by the start of the 13/14 season. The team currently only has about 41.4 million in payroll for the 13/14 season.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

The Canucks fanbase was begging for an "great' goaltender ever since Captain Kirk was traded and now that they have one, they want to run him out of town.

I agree about the generally spazzy nature of the Canucks fanbase. Luongo has certainly provided Vancouver with a lot more good moments than bad, and deserves respect (at least in public).

Thing is, though, this in an era in which quality goaltending is pretty easy and cheap to come by. Pedigree has never been worth less. The best goalie in the league was a journeyman American languishing in the Finnish league well into his 30s. 95-year-old Roloson almost gets Tampa to the SCF. Miller goes down, Enroth plays great. Minnesota and Nashville are goalie factories. The Hawks won a Cup with Antii Niemi, they may win a Cup with Corey Crawford. Rask could start on any number of teams. Bernier and Markstrom are thought of as highly as Schneider. The Coyotes lost Bryzgalov, plug in Mike Smith, same results.

I realize you know all this. I just find it funny that the Canucks finally got their "big name" goalie at the very point in time at which teams don't really need one to succeed any more.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

I agree about the generally spazzy nature of the Canucks fanbase. Luongo has certainly provided Vancouver with a lot more good moments than bad, and deserves respect (at least in public).

Thing is, though, this in an era in which quality goaltending is pretty easy and cheap to come by. Pedigree has never been worth less. The best goalie in the league was a journeyman American languishing in the Finnish league well into his 30s. 95-year-old Roloson almost gets Tampa to the SCF. Miller goes down, Enroth plays great. Minnesota and Nashville are goalie factories. The Hawks won a Cup with Antii Niemi, they may win a Cup with Corey Crawford. Rask could start on any number of teams. Bernier and Markstrom are thought of as highly as Schneider. The Coyotes lost Bryzgalov, plug in Mike Smith, same results.

I realize you know all this. I just find it funny that the Canucks finally got their "big name" goalie at the very point in time at which teams don't really need one to succeed any more.

Goaltenders in the NHL are now like middle relievers in baseball. You have a couple that are really good year after year, but for the most part, the performance is pretty random.

The crazy thing is that if I was building a team, I probably wouldn't spend a lot on the goaltending position but at the same time, I feel like it's the most important position in the game.

The whole goalie thing is a real head scratcher. Another head scratcher is how the Coyotes continue to be good in the regular season despite a crappy roster (the draft track record of this organization is abysmal).