I’m likely in a minority, but here’s why, if I was the Leaf GM, I wouldn’t go after Roberto Luongo

It was only a matter of time before the Roberto Luongo "decision" would be made public.  That came on Thursday, when newly re-signed Canuck head coach Alain Vigneault told a radio station that his former number-one goalkeeper really did want out of Vancouver after all.

Despite Luongo supposedly taking the high road in the days following the Canucks' early playoff exit- essentially saying he would do whatever was "best for the Canucks"- there is no surprise in the public announcement.  He wants out, and they want him gone.  But it does set up an interesting trading scenario for a number of NHL teams this summer.

I can absolutely understand why Maple Leaf fans, desperate for a genuine “solution” to goaltending problems that date back, really, to the end of the Curtis Joseph era (though an aging Belfour was fairly solid here for a couple of seasons)—would love to have a top-flight NHL goaltender between the pipes in 2012-’13 and beyond.

But for me, that guy is not Roberto Luongo.

I realize that we have all talked around the subject a bit here the last few weeks.  As some of you who visit here regularly may know, I have posed questions about what potential UFA’s or trade candidates you would like to see with the Leafs next season.  The Luongo discussion has been part of our discourse.  I also recognize that I am quite likely in a distinct minority on this one, but let me say it clearly: Luongo simply isn’t the goaltender I would be focused on if I was debating his potential availability as a member of the Maple Leaf inner sanctum. (By all means feel free to disagree vehemently; just try to be respectful, as always…)

My reasons are not based on advanced stats or any of the other neat stuff that likely “proves” the long-time netminder is actually one of the best in the business.  I know Luongo is one of the more talented goaltenders in hockey.  I’m aware he was the guy between the pipes when Canada won the Olympics in 2010.

I just don’t believe he is the right—or best—fit for the Maple Leafs right now.

Even if we set aside his gargantuan salary, which still has, what, ten years to go on it and at a really big number—I view him as damaged goods.

Why?

Well, he basically wanted out of Florida because they weren’t good enough for him.  He wanted to ply his trade with a contender.  (Doesn't everyone?)  He also wanted to be paid as the best goalie in the world, and the Canucks accommodated him.  He got his wish on both counts:  the best line-up in the world, or close to it.  And at the time, the best contract a goalie has ever signed.  But for me, he has not played like the best goalie in the world, or anywhere near that level, during his time in Vancouver- at least not when it mattered most.

How many playoff series has he won?  Yes, he was certainly instrumental in seeing the Canucks get all the way to the finals in the spring of 2011, but he was also instrumental in seeing them almost not get there.  (But for a funny bounce, they perhaps don’t even get past Chicago in Round 1, as I recall.)

Once again this spring, he had to be pulled at key times in the playoffs.  That's three seasons in a row that  Luongo could not win "the big one" at playoff time.  He desperately needed to step up in the spring of 2011, after  not delivering the year before.  And this spring, with maybe the best Canuck team ever, he had a chance to finally put to rest any notion that he wasn't up to the task when the heat was on.

He couldn't do it.

His supporters can spin it any way they’d like, but he was not able to carry the team to on his back the past handful of seasons at playoff time, much less carry them to a Cup—despite the Canucks having arguably the best talent in the NHL over that period.  Other goaltenders with less supposed "pedigree" and lesser talent around them have carried their teams further.

In fact, as good as we all want to believe Schneider is, he was a low-cost, largely unproven back-up goalie—and the Canuck brass decided they had a better chance to actually win with him in goal than the guy they had tried to build their franchise around.

Wow.  That tells me something.

And the organization made it clear (albeit not in so many words, perhaps) from the day the playoffs were over that moving Luongo was on the table.  And now it's confirmed that he wants out, as well.

Look, Luongo is a big, pretty athletic goalie who can make some eye-popping saves. We have all seen that.  He is an elite netminder, no question.  But we can all also name maybe fifteen other guys who I would argue are in the same league:  Kirprusoff, Price, Halak, Brodeur, Lundvquist, Thomas, Millar, Ward, Rinne, Lehtonen, Hiller (arguably) and of course Smith and Quick.  (You could throw in, this past season at least, Hotlby, Elliot and Anderson.)

Taking everything into consideration, I’m not sure I would trade Luongo for any of those guys right now.

Would he be an upgrade for the Leafs?  Assuming Reimer does not bounce back and play at his 2010-’11 levels—yes, for sure.

But every spring, many Canuck fans have been afraid that Luongo would suffer another of his springtime meltdowns, and every spring, it has happened.  Oh, he had some wonderful playoff games, absolutely.  But he, I’ll say it again, never carried his team to a championship—the way a guy who thinks he’s the best and should be paid accordingly simply has to be able to do, at least once, in his NHL career.

No, while it’s an intriguing possibility for Toronto, it’s not one that, if I were in Brian Burke’s shoes, I would give up high-end assets for.  Luongo may help us in the regular-season, sure.  And maybe get us to the playoffs in the East.  But surely we haven’t reached a point where the bar in Leafland is so low that all that matters these days is just getting into the playoffs?

Because, and here’s the key measuring stick, Luongo has demonstrated, having watched him closely for many years, that he is not able to handle the pressure of playoff hockey.  He can’t take you to the summit.

If he couldn't do it in a Canadian market like Vancouver, with all that talent, what makes us think he would thrive in Toronto?

And ultimately, the Leafs should not be paying a guy more than 5 million dollars a season, five and more years from now, to watch some other, younger, better, capable, pressure-goalie take us where we want to go.  I’d rather go with what we have (Reimer and Scrivens, not that there is any guarantee there, I well realize…), sign a UFA or make a shrewd move for a lower-profile guy with legitimate potential.

But again, by all means have your say.  I’m just providing an honest opinion.