McKenzie tweeted that the right circumstances would have to present themselves in order for the Islanders to re-acquire Luongo, the team that originally drafted him back in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.  The TSN Hockey Insider did add that the Islanders will first look at what it will cost to re-sign Evgeni Nabokov who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

It’s difficult to compare the two netminder’s salaries. Luongo is owed a tremendous amount of money that will see whichever team he is traded to likely have to absorb some of the annual cap hit at $5.33 million.  I say some because it’s believed if the Canucks truly wish to move Luongo they will have to eat some of his salary.

Nabokov meanwhile made $2.75 million last season and at the age of 37, soon to be 38, it’s unlikely he’ll secure a new deal worth even close to Luongo’s annual paycheck.

McKenzie then goes on to mention that any deal that could be ironed out between the two clubs would surely be contingent on the Canucks taking Rick DiPietro in the deal, only to buy him our via the two compliance buyouts.

When looking at the financials between the DiPietro and Luongo in terms of a compliance buyout for either player, they are similar.  McKenzie tweets that DiPietro buyout is $1.5 million per season over the course of the next 16 years.  Luongo’s is just over $1.5 million over the next 18 years.

So would the Canucks be any further ahead?  Considering they could acquire some talent that is NHL ready from the Islanders, it would make more sense to try and make the deal versus the buyout option.

As this potential blockbuster continues to circulate the rumor mill, we’ll keep you posted here at Too Many Men.

Both Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider were given their fare share of opportunities to grab the reins in goal and get the Canucks back in the series.  They each started two games in the four game sweep and neither of them were able to steal a game that would have gotten the series back to Vancouver for game 5.

Now the off-season is upon the Canucks and it’s just a matter of time before the trade rumors surrounding Roberto Luongo will again start to blow.  Only this time the winds of trade will be stronger than a slight breeze; more comparable to that of gale force winds.

It has become evident that Luongo will be the odd man out in Vancouver.  GM Mike Gillis was apparently close to a deal at this year’s April trade deadline and aside from him not wanting to absorb any of Luongo’s ridiculous contract, a trade was said to be in place with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With the Leafs on the brink of elimination in their opening round series, it’s hard to say if they’ll take another run at Luongo this summer.  James Reimer has been good for the buds, but he hasn’t been great, leaving many to wonder if he’s the answer in Toronto.

A market will surely develop for Luongo given every team is in the same boat come July 3 when free agency opens up.  Every club will have playoff aspirations and plans on upgrading their roster by shelling out barrels of cash to try and land the top fish on the market.

With the list of free-agent goaltenders being somewhat shallow this summer, Luongo’s trade value could increase should multiple teams show interest.  Where he will end up is any one’s guess but one thing is almost certain, Roberto Luongo will be traded.

Perhaps one of the biggest NHL dramas is about to finally draw the curtain on it’s production. All we have to do now is hurry up and wait for the deal to happen which possibly means months of hearing about the rumors.

Give the Sharks a pile of credit.  They have been a different club since the trade deadline and they’ve carried that over into the playoffs where they are on cruise control.

For the Canucks it’s been a combination of poor play and unlucky bounces that have them with their backs against the wall.  If history tells us anything it’s the Canucks chances of seeing round two of the playoffs are slim to none and slim just walked out the door.

Only three clubs have ever come back from being down 3-0 and gone on to win the series in the NHL.  The last club to do so was the Philadelphia Flyers when they stormed back on the Boston Bruins in 2010.  Will the Canucks join that elusive company?  I’m not placing my next pay check on them to do so.

You can argue that the Canucks should have won game two in which they had the lead part way through the third period.  A Patrick Marleau goal with under a minute left to play sent the game to overtime and former Canuck Raffi Torres silenced the home town crowd and put the Sharks up 2-0.

Since then it’s been a lapse here and there for the Canucks or a five minute span in game three where they allowed three goals and chased netminder Corey Schneider in favor of Roberto Luongo.  Inconsistent play will kill a team every year in the playoffs and the Canucks are finding that out again this year.

Yes they have key injuries to players like Ryan Kesler who’s playing through it and their goaltending duo is a daily circus, something that was said to be a distraction for the club ever since the regular season ended.  Now with Schneider playing so poorly it was like throwing gas on the fire for the media.

This is a Canucks team that is fragile and frail since losing in the first round of last year’s playoffs in five games to the hugely underdog Los Angeles Kings.  All throughout this season the Canucks haven’t had that consistent edge that they’ve shown in the past five seasons.  Sure they won the Northwest division for the sixth time in seven years including the last five, but this was a different Canucks club that didn’t have that gunslinging threat that you’d better show up on a nightly basis or they will embarrass you.

With potentially their final game on tap tonight in San Jose the Canucks could be facing major changes this offseason, barring a miraculous comeback.  We’ll wait to dissect the Canucks and the changes we feel are necessary until after they are out of the playoffs, which could be tomorrow morning.

With a loss tonight we could be seeing the last of the Canucks core group of players remain in tact and if you ask the LA Kings marketing department, they’ll remind us all that they are the ones to thank given the crumble started in last year’s first round.