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[Report] Luongo still undecided on returning to Vancouver, exploring options


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I wonder how much of this is family related. I see Luongo's pad is still up for sale. Looking at some of the photos of that place it doesn't look at all like a place where two young children would live which means his wife likely doesn't live in Vancouver even during hockey season. Florida is a long ways away from Vancouver and if he was expecting to be moving closer it must be hard to accept that he will remain over 5500km's from his family most of the year, for the next 5 years.

Since it seems holding out one year and voiding his contract is an option perhaps it is one he might be making primarily for family reasons.

Botchford is saying on twitter if Luongo violates his contract by not reporting then sits out the year the he can be released next year without cap impications and Luongo would become a free agent. If this is true it wouldn't kill the Canucks but It might cost Luongo about $20M in lost wages. For him that might be worth it given he has already made $50M and if wife refuses to live in Vancouver during the season it means he won't get to see his children grow up if he stays in Vancouver. The NHL has the shortest offseasons in professional sports, all you fathers out there think about being away from your wife and infant children 7 months a year.

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I would not want to be away from my kids and family for most of the year either, but i also never was asked to sign a VERY large contract from any NHL teams.. Not to mention its not like His wife has to move to Alberta or Detriot.. Van by world standards is Pretty dam nice place to live.. And again HE SIGNED THE DEAL, that means if he wants to play hockey and make 5 million this year, at this point, its in VAn.. DEAL WITH IT.

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I remember hearing a while ago that Lu's contract has a opt out clause for him after a certain year and one for the team a year afterwards, or vice versa. Anyone know when those years in the contract are?

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Exactly. Hockey is just a game, yet the media and everyone else think it's everything, badmouthing Luongo at every chance they're given. Luongo possibly not reporting to Vancouver is not necessarily about him not wanting to play in Vancouver or the so called "burned bridges" that everyone seems to be talking about; rather, Luongo possibly not reporting to Vancouver may be about the underlying and more important issues surrounding his personal life.

How long can a man be away from his partner? How long can a man be away from his kids? How many family moments can a man miss before he realizes there are no family moments left to experience? If you listen to any retired professional athlete the majority of them say that, in retrospect, they would trade all their fame and glory away to experience their child saying their first word or finally ride a bike without training wheels. Many retired athletes say that they're trying to get closer to their kids and be the father their kids never had, but at that point in life it's extremely hard as their kids are off in high school or even post-secondary institutions.

Point is, if Luongo does indeed not report to Vancouver and retires/gets released don't blame him for the belief that he doesn't want to play for Vancouver or because of the burned bridges, but instead realize that he chose to dedicate his time to something more important than hockey. Family.

Unless of course he gets traded to another team and plays lights out. Then blame Gillis and co. lololol

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Since when did this become the Family Fun Time Hockey League?! And why are these points only now coming up?? If there wasn't a Schneider/Luongo fiasco and Luo was still the undisputed #1 and decided suddenly that he missed his family and didn't want to play here anymore you'd all be livid! Sure playing away from your family is tough but no one put a gun to Luos head and told him to sign a 12 year deal with a NTC in Vancouver. Get real people. He was married and I believe kids were already a part of the plan when he signed so I have zero sympathy if he is missing his children. Like another poster said, other people work away from their families for many months of the year in awful locations to support them at a tiny fraction of the pay.

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Since when did this become the Family Fun Time Hockey League?! And why are these points only now coming up?? If there wasn't a Schneider/Luongo fiasco and Luo was still the undisputed #1 and decided suddenly that he missed his family and didn't want to play here anymore you'd all be livid! Sure playing away from your family is tough but no one put a gun to Luos head and told him to sign a 12 year deal with a NTC in Vancouver. Get real people. He was married and I believe kids were already a part of the plan when he signed so I have zero sympathy if he is missing his children. Like another poster said, other people work away from their families for many months of the year in awful locations to support them at a tiny fraction of the pay.

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The problem last year was that management "shut up" most of the Lunogo supporter by their action. Take me for example, I always preferred Luongo over Schneider. But b/c management pretty much said "We keeping Schneider, trading Luongo for sure", most Luongo supporters "disappeared" because it became pointless. I even proposed a few times what we can get back for Luongo b/c of that.

So it would seem to Luongo that he has lost all his fans in Vancouver (which is far from the case), and so of course he don't want to stay.

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If he wants out that bad then he should be talking directly with Florida's owners and management, begging them to make a trade.

Lu to Florida for Markstrom and Upshall(cap dump)

Then flip Markstrom if the team decides they want more experience and sign Thomas or Bryz.

I can't believe an athlete who is making $7M a year is complaining.

As for the family thing, Gina needs to sucks it up. I have many friends that do camp work in northern Alberta away from their families for 1% of what Lu is making.

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If he wants out that bad then he should be talking directly with Florida's owners and management, begging them to make a trade.

Lu to Florida for Markstrom and Upshall(cap dump)

Then flip Markstrom if the team decides they want more experience and sign Thomas or Bryz.

I can't believe an athlete who is making $7M a year is complaining.

As for the family thing, Gina needs to sucks it up. I have many friends that do camp work in northern Alberta away from their families for 1% of what Lu is making.

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As others have mentioned, I'm pretty sure GMs cannot negotiate with players under contract with other teams.

However, perhaps this is a creative solution:

1) The Canucks trade Luongo to Florida

2) As part of the trade, Vancouver retains part of Luongo's salary

3) Florida buys out Luongo

i) I'm not sure what impact this would have on the salary sharing agreement, or whether a contract subject to such an agreement in fact can be bought out. For the sake of this idea, the best case scenario would be that the teams share the cost of the buy-out according to the terms of the salary sharing agreement (i.e. if the Canucks retain 50% of Luongo's salary, they be on the hook for 50% of the buy-out price). Also, it would be imperative that the Canucks salary cap obligations to Luongo would also be excused by the buy out.

4) Florida re-signs Luongo

At this point, I am amongst those who believe dumping Luongo's contract (and avoiding the salary cap recapture penalty upon Lu's retirement) would be the best thing for the team.

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As others have mentioned, I'm pretty sure GMs cannot negotiate with players under contract with other teams.

However, perhaps this is a creative solution:

1) The Canucks trade Luongo to Florida

2) As part of the trade, Vancouver retains part of Luongo's salary

3) Florida buys out Luongo

i) I'm not sure what impact this would have on the salary sharing agreement, or whether a contract subject to such an agreement in fact can be bought out. For the sake of this idea, the best case scenario would be that the teams share the cost of the buy-out according to the terms of the salary sharing agreement (i.e. if the Canucks retain 50% of Luongo's salary, they be on the hook for 50% of the buy-out price). Also, it would be imperative that the Canucks salary cap obligations to Luongo would also be excused by the buy out.

4) Florida re-signs Luongo

At this point, I am amongst those who believe dumping Luongo's contract (and avoiding the salary cap recapture penalty upon Lu's retirement) would be the best thing for the team.

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