- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: LeBrun tagged the new rule to eliminate back-diving contracts the “Luongo Rule” which basically states that any contract that is longer that 6 years, both teams would be penalized if the player retires before the end of his contract.
To wit: let’s say the Canucks trade Luongo soon. Luongo has played two years of his 12-year contract, the Canucks paying him $16.716 million in salary but only absorbing a $5.33 million cap hit each year. That’s a cap savings of $6.056 million over two years so far for Vancouver. Under this new rule, should the Canucks trade him now and he retires with three years left on his contract, Vancouver would be charged that $6.056 million in cap savings over the final three years left on his deal from 2019 to 2022. However, let’s say for argument’s sake Luongo gets traded to Toronto, the Maple Leafs also would be subject to cap penalties if Luongo retires before the end of his deal.
To wit, part 2: If Luongo were to play the next seven years of his deal in Toronto before retiring, the Leafs would be paying him $43.666 million in salary but only counting $37.31 million against the cap over those seven years, a cap savings of $6.356 million. So if Luongo retires with three years left on his deal (because his salary falls to $1.618 million in the 10th year and then $1 million in the last two years of the deal), the Leafs would get charged that $6.356 million on their cap spread evenly over the remaining three years of his deal.
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: The Maple Leafs are going to have to sweeten the pot if they want to land Luongo. Canucks GM Mike Gillis isn’t going to give him away. The Canucks may want good prospects from the Maple Leafs, and Burke may not want to make that kind of deal. Luongo won’t be dealt to the Panthers unless they offer a better package. The Canucks are looking looking for someone who will help them immediately, a top prospect and a draft pick.
- Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel : Roberto Luongo told the Sun Sentinel yesterday that nothing has changed. He has given Mike Gillis the green light to do what he thinks is best for the Canucks.
“My mind is open to other possibilities right now, we’ll see,’’ Luongo said. “The funniest quote I saw yesterday was I was practicing in the Panthers facility, in a Canucks jersey on with a Maple Leafs goalie coach. That sums it up for you.’’
” has the green light to take his time and do what’s best for the team,’’ added Luongo, who lives in nearby Parkland with his family. “Obviously, I’m open-minded about a lot of possibilities. We’ll work things out together and figure things out as we go along here.’’
Luongo is heading back to Vancouver on Thursday.