[bobbinka]

https://canucksarmy.com/news/report-...e-retired-2019

When Roberto Luongo retired as a Florida Panther in June 2019, it triggered a $3.035 million cap recapture penalty against the Vancouver Canucks for signing him to a twelve-year extension in 2009. But according to Sportsnet 650’s Satiar Shah, Luongo’s career could’ve officially finished in a very different way.

Before Luongo announced his retirement, then-Panthers GM Dale Tallon offered the Canucks the opportunity to reacquire Luongo’s contract, allowing the team to place the Hall of Fame goaltender on LTIR instead and eventually finish his career in Vancouver.
The Canucks, then run by GM Jim Benning, turned the offer down.

“They gave the Canucks a chance to trade back the contract to do some LTIR stuff or whatever, they never did,” Shah said. “Ultimately, he ends up retiring.”

Despite the extremely valuable opportunity to reacquire the best goalie in franchise history and avoid a costly recapture penalty, the Canucks felt such a move didn’t tie into their existing plan at the time. But that didn’t stop Benning from using it as a frequent excuse for his front office’s inability to improve the team.

The franchise’s use of Luongo’s cap recapture penalty as a crutch for poor decisions has led some people to point fingers at the former Canuck for retiring. But aside from the fact that the NHL made the retroactive choice to punish a team for signing a then-legal contract, Shah also mentioned that Luongo didn’t have many other options aside from retirement in Florida.

“Sure, he retired and he hit the team with a cap recapture penalty. But that was also the circumstance he found himself in. He essentially was squeezed out by Florida,” Shah said.

“[The Panthers] said ‘You’re either retiring or we’re making your life miserable’ essentially, and ‘you want to work in our front office afterwards?’ It’s kind of what you have to do.”

What the fuck?

I mean, sure, we don't know what Tallon was asking for in return... but jesus christ, it wouldn't have been a 1st round pick or prospect. likely, a low pick.