During the first intermission of Saturday night's playoff series-opening game between the Los Angeles Kings and the St. Louis Blues, the TSN panel weighed in on where they expect Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo to end up in the fall.
Darren Dreger said he thinks Luongo will end up in Tampa Bay, but Bob McKenzie and former Leaf bench boss Paul Maurice see him going to Toronto.
If we disregard the length of his contract, we can all agree that a goalie of Luongo's calibre is exactly what has been missing from the Toronto Maple Leafs for years.
Of course, if you want to trade your 33-year-old goalie who is under contract for the next decade, you'll have to accept much less than what he's worth in return.
It will be amusing to speculate about potential trade scenarios, but one thing is certain: A goalie in the Leafs organization—not counting Jonas Gustavsson, who is expected to leave via free agency—will have to depart if Luongo is to be brought in.
James Reimer is still considered the goalie of the future in Toronto, but if Luongo is acquired, the future will have to wait for at least a few years.
After all, there are still a few good years left in Luongo.
And once those few years are over, perhaps Toronto will be in a situation similar to what the Boston Bruins are going through. As in, the Leafs will have a good-but-aging starting goaltender with a young star eager to wrest the job away from his mentor.
That's not to say Luongo is similar as a player to Tim Thomas, nor Reimer to Tuukka Rask.
In any case, the acquisition of the presumably soon-to-be former Canuck would halt—or at least significantly slow down—the development of Ben Scrivens and Jussi Rynnas.
Scrivens is third, at worst, on the Leafs' goalie depth chart. At best, he is 2B with Gustavsson being 2A.
He is ready to fill the backup position with the big club, which will never happen if both Luongo and Reimer are in Toronto.
Since Reimer is the goalie of the future, it would appear Scrivens will be the one leaving.
That would give Jussi Rynnas the opportunity to become the starting goaltender with the Toronto Marlies and take the next step in his development.
Unfortunately, the Vancouver Canucks also have a goalie who is just about ready to become a backup at the NHL level: Eddie Lack.
As quoted in the Vancouver Sun, Canucks GM Mike Gillis said that he's "not sure if [Lack] will be absolutely ready and we may not know until next September if he's completely ready."
This statement tells us that even if Lack isn't NHL-ready, he's darn close.
Acquiring another relatively young and relatively NHL-ready backup goaltender would just hamper Lack's development.
If the Leafs sent Rynnas to Vancouver in a package for Luongo, there would still be the question of what to do with Ben Scrivens.
Even if Reimer himself is traded for Luongo, the Canucks would still have their own goalie situation to sort out.
Eddie Lack is currently a restricted free agent, but the Canucks didn't sign him to an entry-level contract two years ago just to kick him to the curb at its completion.
Regardless of who or what is traded for Roberto Luongo, the fact is that a Toronto goalie not named Jonas Gustavsson will have to leave town to facilitate Luongo's arrival.
If Reimer is the future and Rynnas isn't quite ready for NHL action, it looks like Scrivens is the odd-man out.
But where will he go and for what?
Who says the offseason is boring?
Colin Curtis Kevin Russo Curtis Granderson Nick Johnson Javier Lopez Alex Hinshaw
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