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Mike Gillis Talks Luongo- Vancouver Sun article


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We have plenty of snipers; scoring 5th and first in the league the last two years. We've only lost Erhoff and Samuelsson; debatably we have replaced their scoring (prob not passing) prowess?

Our "snipers get bogged down in physical match ups they cant compete in is the primary cause. Missing a secondary play maker another possible reason why our scoring has dried up in the play-off's. Not a lack of "snipers."

I reckon a Dustin Brown bigger grinding winger or the puck control and passing of a Kovalev would create just enough room to get those extra shots for our snipers? They're not going to be available; who will be?

Now, those two names wont be available; who else creates this

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The "not who everyone thinks" doesn't have to mean a team that people aren't talking about. It could be a trade with Toronto/Florida/etc. involving a player/prospect that people haven't been talking about much.

I still think Tampa is interested. Stamkos is healthy and rolling. St. Louis and Lecavalier aren't getting any younger. I don't think they load up with free agent veterans like Carle and Salo, just to make their last line of defense a 24 year-old with 40 games experience, average stats, and Adult On-set Stills Disease... ...oh yeah, and Garon.

Of course, Yzerman downplays his interest in Lu and publicly touts his faith in Lindback, but it simply doesn't add up.

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That Luongo for Purcell rumour that was floating around in the summer is starting to look really good right now. He had 65 points last year, and a cap hit of 2.4m this year. Of course next year his cap jumps to 4.5m, which is difficult to manage given the cap constraint.

Anyways, the player that Tampa could have to 'deal with' could either be:

Ohlund, with 4 more years left on his deal at 3.6m and both knees requiring surgery, I think his playing days are done. Could be looking at retirement or a buyout as I'm not sure which is the cheaper option for the Lightning owner.

Lecalvalier, he has a 7.7m cap hit till 2020. It could be the case that his decreased production might result in the owners looking for a trade partner. I think this one is a bit of a stretch, though I am trying to determine who the 'player problem' could be with this team.

I'm going to say if we deal with Tampa then:

Van

Teddy Purcell

Tyler Johnson (bit of an unknown, he's 22 PPG centre in the AHL, instrumental in the Chiefs memorial cup win, also won gold with US at world juniors in 2010)

Mathieu Garon (need a goaltender in return)

TB

Luongo

Raymond

2nd round 2013

Tampa Bay deals with it's 'player problem', and we get secondary scoring in Purcell, as well as a great prospect in Johnson.

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Yip we have Kassian and Booth. Booth is big (also fast); but not really what you call a grinding winger. Kassian has yet to earn a rating, but the Edmonton game was very encouraging...

But what I was really referring to was a (right) winger capable of pushing Burrows back on to the second line. Look, on some teams Burrow's is a first liner. Including here, sort of.

If he could be the speedster,grinder, checker and worker bee for, say, Henrik and Iginla you have the making of one of the best NHL lines. It's not that Iginla is better than Danny (hear me out). Its that Iginla is a physical force to be reckoned with for his line on top of being a scorer and decent passer. Burrows also does those things, but with heart not size.The Twins, with Burrows get buried by size at some point almost every play off year. But of course we know if we got Iginla, Burrows relegates to the 2knd line...

The reality is we already have a great grinder in Burrows; we just need one who is as good but 20 pounds heavier. And as yet Kassian or Booth has not knocked him off. So a big nasty winger IS on our wish list!

Its physical match up's that are stiffling our otherwise good scorers, not a shortage of goal scoring.

Although the Canucks did finish 5th in scoring last year, i felt that towards the end of the season the goals dried up a bit mostly due to D.Sedin's injury which is why i feel we need more offensive depth (more snipers).

You make an excellent point, I DO think we have our big grinding winger in Kassian/Booth we'll have to see how that progresses, and i agree 100% that we need a secondary playmaker.

I think that Mike Ribeiro would've been an excellent fit on our 2nd line, controls the puck well, can pass/score AND very good in shootouts.

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How does that Tampa deal help the Canucks? Purcell, a no name prospect, and a pretty average backup goalie? Plus we add Raymond AND a pick? Are you Purcell's agent? At 2.5 he has some value to the Canucks. At 4.5? Forget it. Playing with Stamkos and St Louis might have something to do with his point totals......

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Come on it's a fake no one is really interested in trade for Luongo. Washington has Holtby who showed up in the playoffs, Phi will not take another goalie with a big contract instead of Bryzgalov, Tampa has Lindback giving the chance and so on.

Gills is under pressure other gm knows this so we have to buyout Luongo in the summer to make room under the new cap.

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Come on it's a fake no one is really interested in trade for Luongo. Washington has Holtby who showed up in the playoffs, Phi will not take another goalie with a big contract instead of Bryzgalov, Tampa has Lindback giving the chance and so on.

Gills is under pressure other gm knows this so we have to buyout Luongo in the summer to make room under the new cap.

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Okay, now Gillis is just trolling the media. For me, until a trade actually happens my theory is that Gillis, Luongo and Schneider cooked this whole thing up last spring as a smokescreen to give the media something to talk about. All their bloviating and opinionizing is getting expended on the Luongo thing, it frees up the whole team from media scrutiny. Genius!

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Okay, now Gillis is just trolling the media. For me, until a trade actually happens my theory is that Gillis, Luongo and Schneider cooked this whole thing up last spring as a smokescreen to give the media something to talk about. All their bloviating and opinionizing is getting expended on the Luongo thing, it frees up the whole team from media scrutiny. Genius!

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Absolutely no way Luongo goes to Dallas. GM Joe Nieuwendyk made a very shrewd move, IMO, in acquiring Kari Lehtonen. He's a former 2nd overall pick who is very talented and has really only been held back by injuries. He played 59 games last season and put up a very solid 2.33 GAA and .922 Save% and is off to a great start this year with a 2.00 GAA and .950 Save%. If the Stars can keep Lehtonen healthy, they'll be fine in net for a long time.

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Luongo to Dallas makes zero sense. Lehtonen is younger, recently locked up to a long-term deal, and last year he provided them better goaltending that Luongo did for Vancouver.

Age

Lehtonen - 29

Luongo - 33 1/2

2011-12 Stats

Lehtonen - 32-22-4, 2.33 GAA, .922 Save%

Luongo - 31-14-8, 2.41 GAA, .919 Save%

Lehtonen is an excellent goaltender. Some might argue that overall, Luongo is better - but it's marginal at best. And at their respective ages, I'd guess them to be about equal over the next few years.

So...why would Dallas bother even asking? Let alone consider moving their franchise forward to move sideways in net?

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How does that Tampa deal help the Canucks? Purcell, a no name prospect, and a pretty average backup goalie? Plus we add Raymond AND a pick? Are you Purcell's agent? At 2.5 he has some value to the Canucks. At 4.5? Forget it. Playing with Stamkos and St Louis might have something to do with his point totals......

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He's not defensively responsible. He's soft. He's not good on face offs. He wouldn't fit a 3rd line role.

Unless you meant just for this season. In which case you're suggesting we move our biggest bargaining chip for someone who doesn't fit what the team needs. Long term, he's 32 so he's not exactly helping us get younger either. Oh and he's a UFA at the end of this year, which means we could end up with nothing for Lu at the end of this.

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