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Trade Bait: Roberto Luongo

Roberto Luongo

Vancouver Canucks’ goalie Roberto Luongo looks up during the singing of “O Canada” before the Canucks played the Edmonton Oilers in an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck

AP

The NHL’s trade deadline is Wednesday, April 3. Following is a player that may be moved. For more “Trade Bait,” click here.

Much has happened in the four years since the Vancouver Canucks announced they’d signed goalie Roberto Luongo to a long-term contract that would keep him club property through 2021-2022.

The Canucks went all the way to Stanley Cup finals in 2011, losing to the Bruins in seven games. Luongo, 33, was both brilliant and brutal in that series, though it was the brutal that most people remember.

A new CBA has since outlawed the type of contract Luongo received.

But most importantly so far as this story is concerned, Cory Schneider has emerged as the Canucks’ number-one netminder.

“It’s been a great six years, but it’s time to move on,” Luongo said this summer after Schneider took over the starting duties in Vancouver’s first-round playoff loss to the Kings.

Except, of course, he hasn’t moved on. Canucks general manager Mike Gillis, unable to get the deal he wants, has kept Luongo, tacking on another chapter to the soap opera.

All the while, the club has remained adamant it won’t be giving Luongo away.

“We need a third-line center, but no one is going to steal Roberto from us,” assistant general manager Laurence Gilman told TSN recently. “We’re not moving him for a rental. We need something for today and tomorrow.”

Toronto has been the most discussed potential destination of late, with center Tyler Bozak -- a pending unrestricted free agent -- being the name that pops up most as far as a return is concerned.

But the Leafs, like other teams looking for a long-term fix in net, have options. Other goalies that could be targeted include Ottawa’s Ben Bishop, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller, and L.A.'s Jonathan Bernier.

The Leafs could also choose to do nothing and stick with the tandem of James Reimer and Ben Scrivens. Or, they could seek a short-term insurance policy like Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff or Edmonton’s Nikolai Khabibulin.

That’s not to say Toronto is the only team that may may be looking to address its goaltending, either now or in the offseason. Tampa Bay, Florida, Washington, and New Jersey are but four teams where the position is, at the very least, unsettled for the future. Philadelphia is another, though the Flyers already have a goalie signed to a long-term contract.

If the Canucks don’t move Luongo by Wednesday’s deadline, they’ll go into the playoffs with almost $10 million in cap space dedicated to goalies.

“From an efficiency standpoint, to have $9.33 million invested in two goaltenders when only one of them can play is clearly not the most efficient use of resources” Gilman said. “That being said … Roberto is still in the prime of his career and can stabilize a NHL team for years to come. That’s an asset that’s extremely hard to come by. It would be foolish for us to trade Roberto for a rental player.”

Update (4:34 p.m. ET):

Gillis re #Luongo, “we’re talking to 4 teams with varying levels of activity and various proposals” #canucks

— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) April 1, 2013