therealdeal Hockey

The plot on Luongo thickens. Read an article in the National Post today regarding the big trade. Seems that Luongo counter offered 26/4 to Keenan's 25/4. Apparently Luongo made this charitable offer because he wanted to stay in Florida because his family (wife) is from there. The next day he was traded as far away from Florida as is humanly possible. In my opinion, Keenan got fed up with Luongo's bargaining tactics and said to hell with it. Supposidly Ottawa offered a much nicer package for Luongo that included Havlat, Phillips Emery and a 1st rounder. Now, some would say its a smarter move to trade a quality tender like Luongo out of the conference you compete in for a bit worse return, but the cynic in me says it was at least partly spite.

The trade itself is actually a good one for both teams. In my opinion, Luongo was not going to stay in Florida after his desired one year deal, so to get anything in return is decent. Bertuzzi's star may be tarnished, but he can still be the dominant player he shows flashes of. Keenan is said to have a habit of making one player his 'project' when he gets a team and turns that player around, hopefuly Bertuzzi can be that guy. Plus they get not a bad goalie in Auld, who still has a chance to be a number 1, although his time is running out. Allen is a real fierce competitor as well, a guy you would hate to play against. Will Luongo stay in Vancouver longer than this year? My money is on no.