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What if Luongo tells the Canucks he wants to stay?

Boston Bruins v Vancouver Canucks - Game Five

VANCOUVER, BC - JUNE 10: Roberto Luongo #1 of the Vancouver Canucks talks to the media after defeating the Boston Bruins in Game Five of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena on June 10, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

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What was once a foregone conclusion may not be so certain anymore in Vancouver, where all of a sudden Canucks GM Mike Gillis is answering questions about goalie Roberto Luongo not being traded.

Gillis was a guest on FAN 590 today and was floated an intriguing scenario from host Nick Kypreos.

“Hypothetically speaking,” asked Kypreos, “let’s say [Luongo] comes into your office tomorrow and says, ‘Let’s end this talk about me moving. I want to stay. If you’re comfortable having me stay, can we put an end to this and stop these talks?’”

Gillis’s response?

“Well, yeah, I can see that scenario playing out,” he said, “but we’re pretty pragmatic here. We’re going to do what’s best for the hockey club and I don’t know where that road’s going to take us.”

Luongo is 3-0-2 with a 1.53 goals-against average and .940 save percentage so far this season. The 33-year-old has also dramatically changed others’ perceptions through his humorous and self-mocking Twitter postings.

“Just as he’s about to be shipped elsewhere, he’s been revealed as humble, honorable, hilarious,” wrote the Vancouver Sun’s Cam Cole. “Just as his run is ending as the Canucks’ last line of defense, he’s rediscovered his comic muse.

“Just before he drops the keys to Canada’s best hockey team in the hands of his still-unproven successor, he turns out to be anything but the monotoned automaton — it was never true, for we have seen him cry in defeat — whose few attempts at humor in his own voice always seemed to backfire on him.”

Gillis admitted today that the current goaltending situation is unsustainable. At some point, one of Luongo or Cory Schneider will have to be moved.

“If we get to the summer with both of them here, I think it would be time to do something,” said Gillis.

But what will that something be?

Being a backup is a lot funner than I anticipated.........

—Strombone (@strombone1) February 2, 2013