Vancouver Cancucks legend Roberto Luongo revealed that his tenure in the Blue and Green could have been much shorter had he accepted an offer sheet from the Detroit Red Wings in 2006.
During a recent appearance on Spittin’ Chiclets, Luongo recounted a story from the summer of 2006 when he was an unsigned RFA after being acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers. He was given a lucrative offer to take his talents to Hockeytown instead but opted to turn it down.
“When I was traded to Van, I didn’t have a signed contract yet, I actually got offer-sheeted by Detroit. I didn’t accept it though,” he said. “It was a pretty quick no. I had just got traded to Van. I just wanted to be there. I didn’t want to go to another team.”
Luongo added that he didn’t know at the time that the contract the Red Wings offered him would have been more than what the Canucks ultimately signed him to. He also noted that the revelation was not made publicly available around the time it transpired because he chose not to accept the offer, so he exercised his right not to disclose it until 18 years later. He ultimately stuck with the Canucks and went on to become arguably the greatest netminder in the history of the franchise.
In that same interview, Luongo also revealed what led to his departure from the Panthers in the first place, as it stemmed from a contract dispute with then-GM Mike Keenan. Though had he picked up the phone in time to agree to an extension offer, perhaps the trade doesn’t occur in the first place.
“There was a little bit of a contract issue at the time and Mike Keenan was the GM […] I didn’t want to go anywhere, but I also wanted to win,” he said. “I just wanted to see some progress and hopefully make the playoffs in the next year or two, and aspire to win a Cup. And with that came the contract negotiations.”
“They had offered me a contract, and I wasn’t crazy about it, so I was thinking about it. When I got back to them, I said, ‘OK, I’ll agree to it,’ the deal [trade to Vancouver] was already done.”
While the Vancouver faithful are certainly happy with the outcome despite never winning a Stanley Cup during his eight seasons there, it is fair to wonder how differently history would have played out had Luongo accepted Detroit’s offer instead. How would the Canucks responded to losing their star goalie so soon? Who would they have gotten instead? Does Cory Schneider end up becoming the starter, meaning the Bo Horvat trade never happens? Do the Canucks make the 2011 Finals with Luongo not available? If they do, how different would the outcome have been?
We will never truly know the answers to those hypotheticals, but what is obvious is that Luongo’s choice to not join the Red Wings helped spearhead the most successful period of the Canucks’ franchise. He may have missed out on a Cup just two years later, but he came as close as you can come without winning the trophy as a player.
You can watch the full interview with Luongo down below:
