Making an important point from the old thread here. I'll quote for context.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leopold Stotch
Thomas' cap hit is for the next 2-3 years, Luu's cap hit is for 10 more years, at 5.3million. you think in 5 years he's going to be worth 5.3million?
sorry i disagree, i've never really been a Luongo fan, of course i see that he's a great goalie, but his mental strength is as good as a 5 year old trying to hold out on candy, sometimes when we're losing 3-0 he closes the door and sometimes he let's in 5 soft ones.
No bagging on him, but that contract he signed? fuck that.
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It's not as bad as you think, especially when you think of hockey economics.
But we can't give up on Lu at this point. No matter what, he's a top 3 NHL goaltender and they're not exactly growing on trees. Sure, we might've won if we had Tim Thomas in net instead but he is also a Vezina candidate. All things considered, we could've won with 3 goalies of the 30 starters in the league. Lu got us to game 7...we might've fallen shorter with someone else in net. Look at Philly and tell me that team isn't as good as the Canucks...but they had zilch for goaltending and got fucking swept.
Luongo is an asset. There may be one or two that are better but we could do a whole lot worse. Do we really want to go through the goalie graveyard era again where it's a revolving door in goal?
His contract gets better as the years go by as he makes less and less each year. Right now he is a $10m goaltender but when he becomes a $5m goaltender if his skills decline, we're only really paying him $5m under the cap. Aquaman doesn't give two fucks about the actual money. His contract REALLY tails off near the end of his career. If he is still awesome at 40, that's great. If not, then his contract makes him VERY tradeable.
Why? Because of the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and other teams that spend the cap floor. In the last 3 years of Luongo's contract, he makes under $2m but still has a cap hit of $5.333m. Trust me, that is gold to people like the owners of cap floor teams. They only really pay $1-1.6m but they get a valuable contract that allows them to reach the league minimum. These teams are looking for older, servicable and experienced players that can push young prospects that are most likely on their teams. Look at Dwayne Roloson in NYI. Remember, Lu's contract has out clauses on both sides. His NTC is limited. This contract is the best thing for the franchise right now.
Gillis and Gilman have shown us nothing but awesomeness since they've been here, fitting this awesome of a team under the salary cap. They got all our stars to managable contracts. Ask any GM in the league if they would take the Sedins, Kes or Burr's contracts. If you REALLY look at it, other than this year with the $10m bonus payday, Lu took a bit of a paycut from his previous contract. Ask any GM in the league if they would take Lu in a trade right now...even Boston would be interested.
Those two are geniuses...every decision seems to be made out of logic and math. I won't doubt them now. Watch them work magic on the Juice and Hoff contracts and we will all bow down, screaming that we aren't worthy. I have to believe they're smarter than we are and have already thought this through more than I have.
TL;DR: Lu's contract is awesome. You aren't looking at the big picture, dummy.