Category Archives: Vancouver Canucks
Maple Leafs still interested in Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo
The Toronto Maple Leafs remain interested in acquiring the services of Roberto Luongo.
According to TVA Sports hockey analyst Enrico Ciccone, Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke contacted his Vancouver Canucks counterpart, Mike Gillis, about the 33-year-old goaltender last weekend.
This is not the first time Luongo has been linked to trade talks with Toronto. In April, the Leafs were among a group of teams that showed interest in the veteran netminder.
Luongo has played 727 games in the NHL and has spent the past six seasons in Vancouver.
Last season, the emergence of Canucks backup Cory Schneider has put Luongo’s status as the club’s No. 1 goalie in doubt.
The Canucks signed Schneider to a three-year, $12-million contract this off-season, leading to speculation that Luongo, who has 10 years left on a 12-year, $64-million contract, would be traded over the summer
Shane Doan chooses between Vancouver and Phoenix Friday; will this affect Roberto Luongo?
Last week, Shane Doan made a solemn vow that he would sign somewhere by midnight on September 15th, although his recent history of extended deadlines made us wonder if this was an empty threat.
Turns out it was. According to a recent report by John Gambadoro, a radio host on Sports 620 KTAR in Phoenix, Doan has once again spurned his own deadline. But here’s the twist: the winger has actually moved it ahead for once. Gambadoro says that Doan will sign somewhere by 2pm on September 14th, because all contracts have to be signed by then.
What’s more, “somewhere” is one of only two places: Phoenix… or Vancouver. (Hey! that’s where we live!)
We’ve been real Debbie Downers about the Canucks’ chances thus far, but if Gambadoro’s report is to be believed, you sort of have to like them now. After all, Doan has said that he needs Greg Jamison’s deal with the city of Glendale to go through before he signs that four-year deal with the Coyotes, but what are the odds of that deal getting completed tomorrow? Heck, the last time someone successfully completed a deal to purchase the Coyotes was in 2005.
But don’t get too excited. (Like, you can get kind of excited. But don’t get excited to excess.) If Doan does join the Canucks, it could mean that the Canucks’ other ongoing saga likely won’t wrap up as neatly.
The addition of Doan is likely to hurt Mike Gillis’s attempts to get market value for Roberto Luongo.
Reunion with Roberto Luongo might be in Florida Panthers’ plans
With his large Vancouver Canucks hockey bag slung over one shoulder, goalie Roberto Luongo walked out of the Panthers facility Monday morning.
“See you next week,” Luongo told a member of the Coral Springs Iceplex’s staff before heading out the door.
Luongo flew to Vancouver on Tuesday to participate in the Canucks’ charity golf tournament and continue his informal offseason workouts with his teammates.
If the NHL owners lockout their players as expected come Saturday night, Luongo plans to continue his workouts in South Florida.
So, once Luongo leaves Vancouver, will he return?
“I have no idea what is going to happen,” he said.
Luongo, who played with Florida from 2000-05, wants to return to the Panthers.
It appears there is mutual interest, too. Panthers general manager Dale Tallon spoke to the Canucks about a potential trade in June, but talks have cooled.
The Canucks are said to want a number of Florida’s top young players in return for Luongo. However, the Panthers aren’t interested in parting with any of their future building blocks. Nothing will happen on the trade front until labor issues are settled.
For Luongo, it appears his time in Vancouver is over.
Report: Canucks, Burrows negotiating new deal
According to Vancouver’s CKWX News1130, the Vancouver Canucks have started negotiations on a contract extension for winger Alex Burrows.
Burrows, 31, is heading into the final year of a deal that pays $2 million annually. The four-year, $8 million deal he signed back in 2009-10 represents one of the league’s best bargains — since signing, he’s averaged 29 goals per season and missed just 12 games to injury.
Last season, he averaged a career-high 18:28 of ice time and finished tied for 21st in even strength goals (23) with Jamie Benn and Jonathan Toews.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/15/report-canucks-burrows-negotiating-new-deal/
Mark Messier wins $6-million arbitration case against Vancouver Canucks
Mark Messier has been awarded a $6-million settlement in the Hall of Famer’s long-standing grievance over money he claimed he was owed by the Vancouver Canucks.
George Nicolau, an 87-year-old New York-based arbitrator with a long history of handling high-profile sports arbitration cases, rendered his decision recently after meeting with both sides earlier this year.
The Canucks made only a brief comment on the decision.
“Canucks Sports & Entertainment is aware of the arbitrator’s decision and will have no further comment on the matter,” the team said in a statement to The Vancouver Sun Thursday.
Messier did not return a message left for him with the New York Rangers, for whom he serves as special assistant to the president.
Messier signed a five-year, free-agent contract with the Canucks in 1997 for $6 million a season. The dispute between Messier and the team is believed to centre on deferred money the hockey player felt was owed to him.
It has been reported that Messier had a clause in his contract that would compensate him if the value of the Canuck franchise increased over the life of his contract, which expired in 2002.
Messier ended up playing only three seasons with the Canucks, who exercised an option in the contract to buy him out for $2 million after the 1999-2000 season. Messier, now 51, returned to New York and played four more seasons for the Rangers before retiring after the 2003-04 season.
Canucks in tough to land Shane Doan despite multi-year offer
It may not have been the big fish Canucks fans were hoping for, but you can bet pumping a 140-pound tuna to the surface in Panama was memorable for a vacationing GM Mike Gillis.
Those tuna are renowned fighters and that was a huge fish. It’s not easy.
Much like trying to land Shane Doan.
The Canucks are in on the Doan sweepstakes, having offered the power forward a competitive multi-year contract that is at least three years in length.
How competitive? Well, it’s relative, but teams aren’t in on Doan if they’re offering one- and two-year deals.
The Canucks offer probably is not near the four-year, $30 million monster an Eastern Conference team reportedly tabled.
But that offer did have a ring of absurdity to it. You could see it coming from the Magical Man who lives in Happy-Land on Lollipop Lane.
Whether it’d be enough to sway Doan remains to be seen. But, remember, this is a player who has dedicated his entire career to the Phoenix Coyotes organization. Could that same player be lured to a situation that doesn’t fit his criteria just because it’s the largest financial windfall?
First and foremost among Doan’s criteria is to stay in Phoenix.
He wouldn’t be rounding into late July without a contract otherwise. And his return to Phoenix became more likely Monday when Glendale formally rejected the petition which was seeking a referendum on the Coyotes lease agreement.
Bolland for Luongo? Not a chance
Once again the idea of the Chicago Blackhawks trading for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo has reared its ugly head. Over the weekend, a story in the Vancouver Province said the teams have been talking and “reportedly” the Hawks have dangled Dave Bolland for the embattled netminder.
There are so many reasons this would be a bad idea it’s hard to pick the best one. In fact, trading anyone for Luongo remains a poor notion. Talk about creating a bigger headache than you already have …
Bolland is a valuable player. For what the Hawks need out of Luongo he simply may not be. At least not for what his contract dictates him to be. If he still was, the Canucks would not be trading him. And the Hawks are short on centers as it is. Potentially upgrading themselves in goal will only come back to haunt them up the middle. Most important is the idea that the Canucks believe they can get full value — which Bolland would be — for Luongo. The whole league knows he’s being moved. If the Hawks trade a quasi top-6 forward for Luongo, Vancouver would be committing highway robbery.
And no matter his public proclamations, Luongo doesn’t want any part of leaving one pressure cooker for another. Not a chance. His leash with fans in Chicago wouldn’t last through the fan convention this weekend let alone his first soft goal. The Hawks know this. There has been no indication from them — publicly or privately — throughout the offseason that they are interested in Luongo other than perhaps the usual perfunctory phone calls that can be chalked up to due diligence.
Vancouver Canucks re-sign Mason Raymond, take aim at Shane Doan
Vancouver Canucks left-winger Mason Raymond has avoided salary arbitration but he hasn’t avoided a pay cut.
The 26-year-old forward agreed Monday to a one-year contract for $2.275 million, which represents a $325,000 reduction from his $2.6 million wage of last season. Maybe he’ll even have Shane Doan on his line after Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman confirmed the team is pursuing the unrestricted free agent captain of the Phoenix Coyotes.
“I have spoken to Shane Doan on behalf of our organization a couple of times,” Gilman said Monday. “I spoke with him on July 1 to express our interest in bringing him to Vancouver and subsequently followed up with Shane last night. I know from my experience in Phoenix that he has been interested in Vancouver in the past. He’s a western Canadian guy whose wife is from Kamloops. So I think there is interest there. I had productive discussions with both Shane and his agent.”
Gilman was quick to note there will be many suitors for Doan, 35, if he opts to leave the Coyotes and their unstable financial situation.
“Shane is a sought-after commodity and there are a number of teams who would be interested in adding him to their roster,” Gilman continued. “So we’ll see what happens.”
Canucks’ Roberto Luongo to Vancouver: ‘It’s time to move on’
There was no poker face from Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who laid all his cards on the table in an interview Friday and confirmed what everyone really already knew.
His days in Vancouver are done.
“I would never say never, you never know, but we all know what is going on and what has developed,” Luongo told CFOX radio. “At the end of the day I think it’s time to move on and I’m okay with that. I had a great six years in Vancouver, I think it’s a wonderful city, I really enjoyed my time there. “Unfortunately, I was not able to bring a Stanley Cup there which is probably my biggest regret, but it will be remembered for six good years.”
Luongo was interviewed by CFOX’s Jeff O’Neil morning show from Las Vegas, where he is competing, starting Saturday, in the World Series of Poker’s main event tourney.
Luongo’s $10,000 entry into the tournament is being covered by the B.C. Lottery Corp.’s Playnow.com website, which sponsors Luongo as well as O’Neil’s morning show.
Luongo said he does not yet have an inkling of where he will end up, but acknowledged Florida is one of his preferred destinations. Luongo resides in south Florida during the off-season and met his wife there while playing with the Panthers.
“It’s tough to say because (Vancouver GM) Mike Gillis is obviously in charge of the negotiations,” he said. “Florida is definitely one of the spots I’d be willing to go to. To be honest with you, I haven’t had much communication with Mike. He keeps me updated once in a while. I’m sure when something is close to happening, I’ll have to make a decision, but for right now to be honest with you I haven’t really made any decisions whatsoever.”
Islanders’ Al Montoya could be good fit for Canucks No. 2
In the 2005 world junior hockey tournament, Cory Schneider had a long look at how teammate and roommate Al Montoya handled expectation in backstopping the U.S. to within a win of a medal in Grand Forks, N.D.
It could be the other way around next NHL season. But that might be a bit of a stretch, based more on a past link than a pressing present need. Time will tell.
When the Vancouver Canucks finally move Roberto Luongo in an offseason trade scenario, they will need to address various needs and also find more than just a capable backup for Schneider in his new role as the bonafide starter.
They’ll need someone who can step in and play a number of pre-determined games or more if Schneider succumbs to injury or indifferent play. They’ll need someone who can support the starter and who won’t wilt under the glare of the media spotlight.
In time, that goalie will be Eddie Lack. For now, it could be Montoya. Or it could someone else.
The right unrestricted free agent may provide what the Canucks are seeking because of what the Presidents’ Trophy winners and the St. Louis Blues proved last season.
Florida Panthers may not be as busy, but might trade for Luongo
Luongo has 10 years left on the 12-year contract with Vancouver, and it appears there is interest on all three sides (Vancouver, Florida and Luongo) to get a deal done. Luongo is said to have agreed to waive his no-trade clause to come back to Florida — where he and his family reside for much of the offseason.
Scott Clemmensen, Florida’s backup the past three seasons, will be a free agent Sunday.
Tallon said the Canucks and Panthers talked “goaltending” at last weekend’s draft without mentioning Luongo by name; Santos said Friday there have been no talks about it since.
Florida could also have interest in future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur if he were to leave New Jersey after two decades with the Devils — possibly because of concerns with team ownership. Brodeur owns a home in Palm Beach County and won’t come cheap.
Of the free agents who played for Florida last season, it’s possible Jason Garrison played his final game with the Panthers, although he could still sign with the team.
Garrison, who made an average of $675,000 the past two seasons, could garner $5 million per season on the open market after he scored a career-high 16 goals. Florida has reportedly offered Garrison around $3.5 million per season.
“We’ve kept the line of communications open,” Santos said. “But when you get this close to July 1, typically, the player wants to see what his options are.”
The Panthers have spoken to Clemmensen and forwards Krys Barch and Mikael Samuelsson about returning — and it’s possible the Panthers bring some or all of them back. The Panthers waived Mike Santorelli and Matt Bradley on Thursday.
Florida has quite a bit of money to spend to get to the raised salary cap floor, so don’t be surprised if the Panthers make some big moves.
Several players on Canucks’ radar
Everyone knows the Vancouver Canucks have as good a chance as any team to secure the most sought-after free agent since Cindy Crawford, that being one Justin Schultz, to whom they made their pitch in Toronto on Wednesday.
Whether or not they land the fellow whose parents apparently own season tickets to Canuck games will have an effect on which players they pursue when the July 1 green flag falls on unrestricted players.
If Schultz is not in the fold, they might go looking hard for somebody somewhat like him named Jason Garrison, a defenceman with the Florida Panthers with some considerable offensive abilities who hails from White Rock and might consider giving Vancouver a small hometown discount.
But will it be a sufficient discount to have it make sense for the Canucks, who hope to get Sami Salo back for at least one more year, and maybe more, and already have another young right-handed shot in Chris Tanev in the fold?
Report: Florida remains “frontrunner” for Roberto Luongo
While Vancouver Canucks starter-to-be Cory Schneider says he’ll take his time to sign a new deal, the team probably wants to get that whole Roberto Luongo mess cleaned up sooner rather than later. Darren Dreger provides the latest update on that front: the Florida Panthers remain the “frontrunner.” The Toronto Maple Leafs, meanwhile, appear to be lagging behind.
Bob McKenzie paraphrases Dreger as such:
Insider Trading hilites: @DarrenDreger says dialogue continues between FLA and VAN on Luongo. Not so much TOR and VAN. FLA frontrunner.
Plenty has been made of the Panthers’ interest in bringing back Luongo; it’s even clear that the team’s ownership seems OK with his lengthy, risky contract. It appears that Luongo wants to go back to Florida, too, as a report surfaced that he wouldn’t accept a swap to two other interested parties in Toronto and the Chicago Blackhawks.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/06/28/report-florida-remains-frontrunner-for-roberto-luongo/