[Official] Luongo Retires

[JM_]

3 minutes ago, qwijibo said:

How do you figure?  How is it more beneficial to them than any other player who retires early?  Yes. They’re gaining cap space and a roster spot.  That would have happened with any retiring player.  So what makes this particular circumstance so damn beneficial to them beyond the norm? 

this should have been Lu going on LTIR.

 

But instead, it sounds like Lu's going to be taking an office job (so he doesn't lose any money personally), Florida gets to clear millions in cap space, not have to deal with LTIR and clear a roster spot. That is a great deal for 1 million  in cap. 

 

Edited June 27, 2019 by Jimmy McGill

[Kosmo Kramer]

16 minutes ago, qwijibo said:

Strictly speaking it was always an attempt to purposely circumvent the salary cap.  Neither Gillis nor Luongo ever had any intention of fulfilling the entire contract.  I don’t agree with the punishment after the fact, but contract never should have been allowed in the first place.

I agree it was designed to circumvent the cap, and teams around the league were doing it.

 

Canucks saw an opportunity to give themself an advantage within the current rules and did it.

 

Should it have been allowed by the league then? No maybe not, but there were no rules against it at that time and it helped us build a better team.

 

14 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

A GM with a functioning brain would have used the compliance buyout instead of choosing to screw the franchise over down the road.

I don't remember the exact year the rule was made or how much he had been paid up to that point.  

I think the buyout would have been around 48 million dollars, and then turn around and re sign him to an equally lucrative deal.

It's hard to imagine Aquilini green lighting that.

 

Would it have been the best plan?

In hindsight yeah it appears so.

 

But no one is going to cough up 50 mil because there's a chance this would happen.

[canuck73_3]

5 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

I stand by my comment.  Gillis did such a bad job as GM it's taken Benning this long just to clean up most of his mess.  I wouldn't trust Gillis with an assistant manager gig at Mickey D's.  He'd trade the Big Mac sauce recipe for some used napkins.

Your comment is factually wrong. Back in reality he got a team 60 minutes from a Stanley Cup victory. 

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

 

 

Edited June 27, 2019 by AlwaysACanuckFan

[qwijibo]

3 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

this should have been Lu going on LTIR.

 

But instead, it sounds like Lu's going to be taking an office job (so he doesn't lose any money personally), Florida gets to clear millions in cap space, not have to deal with LTIR and clear a roster spot. That is a great deal for 1 million  in cap. 

 

So like I said. They took the option least damaging to them.  There’s a difference between least damaging and benefiting. Wouldn’t you expect Canucks management to try to minimize the damage to their franchise if Luongo was still a Canuck and he decided his playing days were over? 

[Smashian Kassian]

25 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

A GM with a functioning brain would have used the compliance buyout instead of choosing to screw the franchise over down the road.

That decision goes beyond the general manager, that's an ownership decision aswell.

 

Ownership was reluctant just retaining money in the Luongo trade, that's why it took so long to trade him. 

[King Heffy]

Just now, Kosmo Kramer said:

I agree it was designed to circumvent the cap, and teams around the league were doing it.

 

Canucks saw an opportunity to give themself an advantage within the current rules and did it.

 

Should it have been allowed by the league then? No maybe not, but there were no rules against it at that time and it helped us build a better team.

 

I don't remember the exact year the rule was made or how much he had been paid up to that point.  

I think the buyout would have been around 48 million dollars, and then turn around and re sign him to an equally lucrative deal.

It's hard to imagine Aquilini green lighting that.

 

Would it have been the best plan?

In hindsight yeah it appears so.

 

But no one is going to cough up 50 mil because there's a chance this would happen.

Buffalo's ownership ponied up.  It's hard to believe Aquilini would have been unwilling to pony up the necessary dough to ensure the health of the franchise given the way he has invested towards staying competitive.  It's far more likely the idiot he had as a GM lacked the intelligence to realize that a buyout was the only sensible solution.  Instead, he doubled down on the bad contract with the trade.    You don't need hindsight to realize how brutal of a decision this was; it was painfully obvious to everyone but GM Neckbeard.    There is a reason no NHL team is willing to hire Gillis after the debacle he caused here.

[King Heffy]

1 minute ago, Smashian Kassian said:

That decision goes beyond the general manager, that's an ownership decision aswell.

 

Ownership was reluctant just retaining money in the Luongo trade, that's why it took so long to trade him. 

Gillis ultimately signed off on this, accepting responsibility.  A GM with some integrity and professionalism would have resigned rather than knowingly crippling the franchise.  Gillis was either an idiot or a coward.  Either way, he did a fantastic job of screwing the team over years after his departure.

[canuck73_3]

1 minute ago, King Heffy said:

Buffalo's ownership ponied up.  It's hard to believe Aquilini would have been unwilling to pony up the necessary dough to ensure the health of the franchise given the way he has invested towards staying competitive.  It's far more likely the idiot he had as a GM lacked the intelligence to realize that a buyout was the only sensible solution.  Instead, he doubled down on the bad contract with the trade.    You don't need hindsight to realize how brutal of a decision this was; it was painfully obvious to everyone but GM Neckbeard.    There is a reason no NHL team is willing to hire Gillis after the debacle he caused here.

Literally no owner is going to go ahead with a 48 million dollar buyout. None. Not one. 

[Smashian Kassian]

3 Mill for 3 years really isn't the end of the world. 

 

Its just going to take sharp management to keep our cap situation manageable, while now also improving the team to make the playoffs ASAP.

 

We'll see what happens in Free Agency.  

[JM_]

Just now, qwijibo said:

So like I said. They took the option least damaging to them.  There’s a difference between least damaging and benefiting. Wouldn’t you expect Canucks management to try to minimize the damage to their franchise if Luongo was still a Canuck and he decided his playing days were over? 

Lu could have gone on LTIR but didn't and that benefits FLAs cap, thats a form of circumvention too. I'm not holding my breath for anyone to change that retroactively. 

[King Heffy]

Just now, canuck73_3 said:

Literally no owner is going to go ahead with a 48 million dollar buyout. None. Not one. 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/yashin-tucker-headline-20-priciest-nhl-buyouts/

 

Lecavalier qualifies for sure.  At the end of the day, you gotta blame the idiot who pulled the trigger on the trade.

[Alflives]

5 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

Lu could have gone on LTIR but didn't and that benefits FLAs cap, thats a form of circumvention too. I'm not holding my breath for anyone to change that retroactively. 

Lou couldn’t go on LTIR.  The team has to approve it, and they said no.  

[appleboy]

Where did all our cap space go?                 

 

Well Jim you gave 6 mill to LE.

4.3 mil to a foundational player by the name of Sutter.

3 mil to your Beagle.

Luongo recapture just took 3 mil.

3 ml to Rousell.

3 mil to Gagners who is now Spooner.     

 

There is our defense nickel and dimed away.    

 

[hockeyville88]

End of an era

 

Luongo was a superstar in the hardest position in hockey and he delivered on every account possible. There's no Game 7 without him. It was not on him that we didn't win the Cup.

 

He grew up in front of us, went through highs and lows in front of us, made mistakes in front of us, cried in front of us, rejoiced in front of us, and became a legend in front of us

 

Wishing him nothing but the best in the next phase of life

 

[TFerguson]

I appreciate Tim & Sid empathizing with some of the complexities of this from a Vancouver fan's perspective:

 

 

[Gurn]

41 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

A GM with a functioning brain would have used the compliance buyout instead of choosing to screw the franchise over down the road.

And an owner may well have said no.

Till the whole story is known blame is pointless.

 

[Gurn]

5 minutes ago, appleboy said:

Where did all our cap space go?                 

 

Well Jim you gave 6 mill to LE.

4.3 mil to a foundational player by the name of Sutter.

3 mil to your Beagle.

Luongo recapture just took 3 mil.

3 ml to Rousell.

3 mil to Gagners who is now Spooner.     

 

There is our defense nickel and dimed away.    

 

It must be very hard to live in your head.

[canuck73_3]

5 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/yashin-tucker-headline-20-priciest-nhl-buyouts/

 

Lecavalier qualifies for sure.  At the end of the day, you gotta blame the idiot who pulled the trigger on the trade.

Circumstances considering, The Canucks won 2 Presidents trophies, went to the Finals. Luongo was still well in his prime and all we had in the pipeline was Eddie Lack... Vinny Lecavalier at that stage of his career was very replaceable. A star starting goalie still in his prime with only a career backup in the pipeline, not so much...

[King Heffy]

Just now, gurn said:

And an owner may well have said no.

Till the whole story is known blame is pointless.

 

Which should have been followed by a resignation.  Either Gillis didn't know how harmful this was to the franchise or he didn't care.