Gillis won’t “succumb” to media pressure to trade Luongo

Canucks general manager Mike Gillis would like the Toronto Maple Leafs — and any other team, for that matter — to know that he won’t be pressured by the media into trading Roberto Luongo.

Per CanucksArmy.com, Gillis was on TEAM 1040 radio this morning in Vancouver to reject the idea that his expectations are too high when it comes to the price for Luongo.

“The notion that we were asking for too much was floated in the Toronto media by a team that was extremely interested in acquiring Roberto and were using every means possible to try and force us to do something that we didn’t think was right,” said Gillis.

“That’s nothing new in this business and it’s not the kind of pressure that I’m going to succumb to.”

Gillis has said repeatedly that he’s willing to wait for the right deal for Luongo to come along, and he reiterated that stance today.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to happen in the first two weeks of this season, and if you start giving all-star players away you’ll be at the bottom of this league in a real hurry,” he said.

The Canucks open the season Saturday at home to Anaheim, then host Edmonton on Sunday.

It’s believed Cory Schneider will be Vancouver’s starting goalie against the Ducks, but Luongo could get the call versus the Oilers.

If you believe Gillis, the Canucks could have the same goaltending tandem all season.

“As it sits today, we need to get something in return that is going to help our team and we’re not in the business of just helping other teams, so I’m comfortable with both these guys starting the season here, I’ll be comfortable if we finish the season with them.

“If something happens and comes our way that allows us to improve, we’re going to do it. And it’s all subject to Roberto wanting to go to that city. So, it is a little bit more complicated than people like to think but we feel very comfortable with where we sit today with our goalies.”

The Canucks had reportedly offered the Leafs Luongo for Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri and a second-round draft pick.

Of course, that was what they offered when Brian Burke was still the GM in Toronto. It’s not clear if Burke was seriously considering the deal, but with Dave Nonis now in charge, it appears the Leafs are committed to giving Kadri a chance to prove himself.