Luongo

[Deebo]

There's a couple reports out there are saying the asset cost was acceptable to the Leafs (Scrivens, 2nd, 3rd) but it was Gillis and the Canucks' refusal to retain any salary was the deal breaker.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

There's a couple reports out there are saying the asset cost was acceptable to the Leafs (Scrivens, 2nd, 3rd) but it was Gillis and the Canucks' refusal to retain any salary was the deal breaker.

I read the Leafs feel since there's no other suitors for Luongo that Vancouver should essentially be giving him up for free. I can't see his salary/caphit being a big problem. What's going to hurt are the potential cap penalties if he retires. But since they're clearly negotiating I assume the Leafs are willing to take the risk there. And there's nothing the Canucks can do to help us with that. Nonis just wants the asking price to drop to zero.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

After reflecting on this, when they called Luongo in off the ice prior to the deadline, Luongo said that he figured it was so that he could sign off on a deal - required with his no movement clause. Meanwhile, we have several reports of various offers made by Gillis to the Leafs.

I've got to wonder if Gillis really thought that Nonis would bite on his various pitches in the heat of the moment and wound up with a rather harsh reality check.

The other thought was during his press conference, Luongo said:  ?I'd scrap (his contract) it if I could right now.? So I looked it up in the 2005 CBA (not the current CBA because we don't have that yet)

EXHIBIT 1 STANDARD PLAYER'S CONTRACT:
14. The Club may also terminate this SPC upon written notice to the Player (but only after obtaining Waivers from all other Clubs) if the Player shall at anytime:

(a) fail, refuse, or neglect to obey the Club's rules governing training and conduct of Players, if such failure, refusal or neglect should constitute a material breach of this SPC.

(b) fail, refuse or neglect to render his services hereunder or in any other manner materially breach this SPC.

In the event of termination under subsection (a) or (b) the Player shall only be entitled to compensation due to him to the earlier of the date such notice is delivered to him or the date of the mailing of such notice to his address as set out below his signature hereto.

In the event this SPC is terminated by the Club while the Player is "away" with the Club for the purpose of playing games the installment then falling due shall be paid on the first weekday after the return "home" of the Club.

So Luongo does have the power to "scrap" his contract. All he has to do is refuse to render his services. If he does, the Canucks can put him on waivers and if no one takes on the Luongo contract - which is unlikely in my opinion, he's out of his contract as are the Canucks.

All it costs Luongo is about $40 million .... offset some by whatever another NHL team would sign him for. So to some extent, I question "I'd scrap it if I could" though with $40 mil on the line, I can't say I'd blame him heavily for not scrapping it.

On one hand, I'd love to see Luongo go that route.  It would be a huge show of character, and would free him up for the Leafs if they remain interested and win the bid for his services.  What a massive show of a guy putting his money where his mouth is.

On the other hand, though, I really want to see this continue to drag out for Gillis.  He's trying to peddle day-old sushi as freshly caught bluefin tuna, and it will only end badly for him and the Canucks.  Luongo refusing to report any longer would give Gillis an out I don't want to see him get.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I wonder if Luongo even knows he can do that.

 

[caver]

I doubt Luongo does anything that dramatic, but this summer the pressure will be huge to get something done. I wonder if this could cost Gillis his job ?

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

I wonder if Luongo even knows he can do that.

Probably.  But, if not, all it would take would be a little more media attention to the issue to bring it to his attention.  It would certainly make for a very interesting off-season story.

 

[Bullfrog]

I wonder if Luongo even knows he can do that.

You should tweet him and his agent.

 

[Bullfrog]

I'm not overly confident that all 29 other GMs would agree to that though.

There's nothing exceptional about this situation; Luongo's getting to play, he's reporting the Canucks, etc. The only thing exceptional is the contract.

If I was a GM, I wouldn't let Gillis off the hook for his exceptionally stupid, cap-circumventing contract.

 

[Derk]

I feel a little bad for Luongo, but at the same time I wonder how much responsibility he and his agent have for putting pen to paper in the first place. It is obvious that both the GM and player didn't really look ahead at what the implications of the contract might have been.

Having him walk away from his contract might set a precendent for an "easy" out for these ridiculous contracts. As I have said before, I would like to see one of these GMs have to live with the repercussions, even if that means a massive buyout.

 

[ensco]

There's a couple reports out there are saying the asset cost was acceptable to the Leafs (Scrivens, 2nd, 3rd) but it was Gillis and the Canucks' refusal to retain any salary was the deal breaker.

I read the Leafs feel since there's no other suitors for Luongo that Vancouver should essentially be giving him up for free. I can't see his salary/caphit being a big problem. What's going to hurt are the potential cap penalties if he retires. But since they're clearly negotiating I assume the Leafs are willing to take the risk there. And there's nothing the Canucks can do to help us with that. Nonis just wants the asking price to drop to zero.

Seriously? If Luongo were a true free agent, he would get a 3-4 year deal for $3-4M. Total dollars approx $10-15M. But Luongo is owed $40M. So Vancouver has to take a $25-30M haircut here. Then you adjust for whatever other value is exchanged. That is what a Luongo trade looks like. Failing that, the Canucks can amnesty him (i.e. buy him out for $27M).

Or, I guess, in a world with no scruples, Gillis can conduct an abusive campaign to hope some sucker like the Leafs does something off market, but whose other objective is to wage psychological warfare on Luongo himself, so that he will quit, or somehow accept less than $27M in exchange for agreeing to a new, market based contract, that can be moved (While I'm not sure that's possible under the CBA, I suspect something like what is outlined above might be up Gillis' sleeve, along these lines).

Gillis' "offer" was the culmination (for now) of a sustained plot to coerce the Leafs into overpaying $25 million for Luongo. Or get Luongo to eat many millions. It'll start again in the summer.

The Canadian sports media have totally failed on this story. It's the job of the Dregers of the world to report this for what it is.

I think the league and especially the NHLPA may need to step in here. Conducting a targeted PR campaign like this is not right. The Canucks are abusing the unwillingness of other hockey people to go on the record to call out a blatant series of lies.

Burke's reaction to this would have been epic. Too bad we didn't get to see that!

 

[Zee]

Hey, hey, it's Luongo's birthday today, he's 34!  Happy Birthday Lou!!

 

[Bullfrog]

I still don't understand completely why his contract was accepted by the NHL where others were not.

The NHL should just decide it's not valid, make the Canucks pay a penalty and then Luongo is freed!

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

I still don't understand completely why his contract was accepted by the NHL where others were not.

The NHL should just decide it's not valid, make the Canucks pay a penalty and then Luongo is freed!

#freerobertoluongo ?

 

[Bullfrog]

I think that's how it works.

 

[cw]

After reflecting on this, when they called Luongo in off the ice prior to the deadline, Luongo said that he figured it was so that he could sign off on a deal - required with his no movement clause. Meanwhile, we have several reports of various offers made by Gillis to the Leafs.

I've got to wonder if Gillis really thought that Nonis would bite on his various pitches in the heat of the moment and wound up with a rather harsh reality check.

The other thought was during his press conference, Luongo said:  ?I'd scrap (his contract) it if I could right now.? So I looked it up in the 2005 CBA (not the current CBA because we don't have that yet)

EXHIBIT 1 STANDARD PLAYER'S CONTRACT:
14. The Club may also terminate this SPC upon written notice to the Player (but only after obtaining Waivers from all other Clubs) if the Player shall at anytime:

(a) fail, refuse, or neglect to obey the Club's rules governing training and conduct of Players, if such failure, refusal or neglect should constitute a material breach of this SPC.

(b) fail, refuse or neglect to render his services hereunder or in any other manner materially breach this SPC.

In the event of termination under subsection (a) or (b) the Player shall only be entitled to compensation due to him to the earlier of the date such notice is delivered to him or the date of the mailing of such notice to his address as set out below his signature hereto.

In the event this SPC is terminated by the Club while the Player is "away" with the Club for the purpose of playing games the installment then falling due shall be paid on the first weekday after the return "home" of the Club.

So Luongo does have the power to "scrap" his contract. All he has to do is refuse to render his services. If he does, the Canucks can put him on waivers and if no one takes on the Luongo contract - which is unlikely in my opinion, he's out of his contract as are the Canucks.

All it costs Luongo is about $40 million .... offset some by whatever another NHL team would sign him for. So to some extent, I question "I'd scrap it if I could" though with $40 mil on the line, I can't say I'd blame him heavily for not scrapping it.

On one hand, I'd love to see Luongo go that route.  It would be a huge show of character, and would free him up for the Leafs if they remain interested and win the bid for his services.  What a massive show of a guy putting his money where his mouth is.

On the other hand, though, I really want to see this continue to drag out for Gillis.  He's trying to peddle day-old sushi as freshly caught bluefin tuna, and it will only end badly for him and the Canucks.  Luongo refusing to report any longer would give Gillis an out I don't want to see him get.

I don't want to see Gillis get that out either. He can complain about the CBA rules changing but the league warned the GMs about those changes being likely in the new CBA well before CBA negotiations even started.

I'm glad to see Nonis asked for Gillis to share in paying for the player. That's the only way I would have done a deal for Luongo - and I suspect that goes for most GMs. If Gillis wants any assets back, it's the only way I think he'll see them going forward.

His negotiating position will be ugly this summer because everybody knows that they must do something about Luongo because of their cap mess. Even if they compliance buyout Booth & Ballard, they have 9 players to sign with $10.7 mil cap space - which very likely means their roster next year cannot be as good as this year's while the clock ticks off on winning with the Sedins.

 

[cw]

I still don't understand completely why his contract was accepted by the NHL where others were not.

The NHL should just decide it's not valid, make the Canucks pay a penalty and then Luongo is freed!

The time to decide if the contract is valid is when the contract is submitted for league approval after the parties have signed it. The league has already decided that it was a valid contract.

 

[Frank E]

I still don't understand completely why his contract was accepted by the NHL where others were not.

The NHL should just decide it's not valid, make the Canucks pay a penalty and then Luongo is freed!

The time to decide if the contract is valid is when the contract is submitted for league approval after the parties have signed it. The league has already decided that it was a valid contract.

If I owned the team, I'd instruct Gillis to trade Schneider this summer. 

Buyout Ballard and Booth, get a couple of nice assets back for Schneider, and have the cap space to ice a decent team over the next few years.

 

[Corn Flake]

I still don't understand completely why his contract was accepted by the NHL where others were not.

The NHL should just decide it's not valid, make the Canucks pay a penalty and then Luongo is freed!

The time to decide if the contract is valid is when the contract is submitted for league approval after the parties have signed it. The league has already decided that it was a valid contract.

If I owned the team, I'd instruct Gillis to trade Schneider this summer. 

Buyout Ballard and Booth, get a couple of nice assets back for Schneider, and have the cap space to ice a decent team over the next few years.

And then fire Gillis for taking on all of those contracts in the first place, and being the GM who fell for the Jason Garrison 1-year wonder trick.

also.. Booth and Ballard represent around $24 mil in cash to buy out.  You think the owner goes for that? Gillis has really put the team in a colossal cash AND cap bind with those deals + Luongo + Garrison.

 

[Zee]

I still don't understand completely why his contract was accepted by the NHL where others were not.

The NHL should just decide it's not valid, make the Canucks pay a penalty and then Luongo is freed!

The time to decide if the contract is valid is when the contract is submitted for league approval after the parties have signed it. The league has already decided that it was a valid contract.

If I owned the team, I'd instruct Gillis to trade Schneider this summer. 

Buyout Ballard and Booth, get a couple of nice assets back for Schneider, and have the cap space to ice a decent team over the next few years.

And then fire Gillis for taking on all of those contracts in the first place, and being the GM who fell for the Jason Garrison 1-year wonder trick.

Yeah I think that's the move here, fire Gillis, get someone else in to clean up the mess.

 

[Corn Flake]

Yeah I think that's the move here, fire Gillis, get someone else in to clean up the mess.

It's not like Gillis is setting a high bar to reach here .. blowing crazy money on all kinds of long-term bad contracts with no way out of them..... Any dope can do that.

I mean, my wife can spend insane amounts of money on all kinds of useless junk is my wife a better GM candidate than Gillis ?? .....  ;D    8) 

"Hi I'm Mike Gillis... I know mr Owner that you have let me spend to the cap for years now, but I need about $55 mil in cash to buy out 3 players this summer... I mean yeah I mean I signed Luongo to a 13 year contract knowing full well that Schneider was in plan to be our guy in a few years, and Booth was an injury prone concussion head that Florida dumped on us, oh and Ballard well yeah I sold you on him being so totally awesome ...so $55 mil to get rid of them...  .. that cool?