From Elliot Friedman's 30 thoughts blog:
30 Thoughts: Focus switches to NHL free agents, offer sheets | Hockey | CBC Sports
13. The Vancouver Canucks and Roberto Luongo: If organization and player could go back in time one year, how much differently would each side handle this? Luongo and Cory Schneider were blown away by the decision to trade the latter and there's really no other conclusion than Canucks GM Mike Gillis only committed to that course of action in the last few days. There is a theory that team owner Francesco Aquilini would not approve a buyout and, when it came to trading Luongo, it sounds like, at this time, Gillis was more concerned about future "cap recapture" penalties if Luongo retired early rather than a limited return.
14. Gillis made it very clear last Saturday that Schneider could be traded. Did either agent contact him looking for information? Good question.
15. I remember interviewing football coach Marv Levy once and asking him about retiring. He basically said, "Once you''ve decided to retire, retire. You can't postpone it until after a season because you've made your decision." I thought about this quote after the Schneider trade because there is no doubt that, mentally, Luongo is gone from Vancouver. He so badly wanted a fresh start. Ultimately, the contract will force him to return, but it would be a mistake to underestimate how much of an adjustment this is going to be. The first thing he's thinking is, "How many goals will I give up before people start saying, 'They should have kept Schneider?'" It's tough to be positive with that on your mind.
16. Aquilini visited him on the weekend and Gillis will make a trip, too. If I was them, I would be stressing that, right now, the Canadian Olympic goaltending job is wide open. If he comes back to Vancouver and plays well, he's got a superb shot at being the guy. That's a positive. You've got to get him thinking about good things.
17. What the Canucks do over the next couple of weeks will also have an effect. Bo Horvat is an enticing prospect -- one scout said, "When the trade was announced, the guys at our table were saying that he's involved in every big goal" -- but he does not help Vancouver right now. Can Gillis make a move that convinces Luongo the team will be better?
18. I don't have a problem with no-trade clauses, but sometimes they burn the player as much as the team. Luongo could have gone to the Toronto Maple Leafs at last year's draft, but he was focussed on Florida and declined. The Panthers, knowing they were in a position of strength, drew a hard line. Just before the lockout, it was believed both Toronto and Edmonton were possible destinations. Again, it didn't happen. Toronto left the picture once team president and GM Brian Burke was fired.
19. The Oilers kept their interest in Vancouver's goaltending decision, culminating in last weekend's conversations for Schneider. The Canucks asked for a lot (seventh-overall pick, a second-rounder and a prospect), but Edmonton wasn't going that far. If Gillis was going to send him to a potential playoff opponent, the cost was going to be huge.
20. I wondered if the Islanders would make a play for Schneider. Hard to see the Canucks doing it without New York's first-round pick, but there is a belief that Garth Snow was going to trade either Nino Niederreiter or that selection, but not both. Niederreiter, of course, went to the Minnesota Wild for Cal Clutterbuck.
21. I thought MacTavish was smart to wait. Everyone knows he is so eager to make moves. That's when you must be your most patient. You can make a very big mistake under those circumstances.
