Patrick Johnston: Luongo was willing to go on LTIR to avoid recapture penalty, but Jim Benning never bothered to call

[wai_lai416]

19 minutes ago, iinatcc said:

 

Well there's than and there's the OEL buyout money 

the money he gets from ticket sale at the game will more than cover the OEL buyout. he was getting no money from home game during the covid seasons so it's more likely it was coming out of his pocket

[LillStrimma]

2 hours ago, Joe King said:

This I agree with. He could see Benning was losing control of his spending. Just grasping at straws to try to save his job.He was signing players with injury problems thinking he was getting them cheap. Ferland ,Poolman come to mind.

I also wonder what the ask was for the trade. I also wonder why the wait for this to come to light. Lou could have retired a Canuck. One of my favourite  Canuck goalies along with Gary Smith, Kirk Mclean and Richard Brodeur. 

It can come down to a silly reason also.

Bennings spin doctors here blamed everything on Gillis.

Wich happened again when Luongo didn’t come here to retire.

It was Gillis fault one more time and the blame for the Canucks cap problem wasn’t Bennings fault.

If you remember how it was back then everyone blamed Gillis for the Luongo deal again. Talking about that Gillis did this contract knowing it would be punished etc…

The work of a magician or better, a fraudster. 

[kilgore]

7 hours ago, iinatcc said:

 

Same owner that was willing to sign the check to bring in and overpay OEL, Dickinson, Beagle, and Roussel? 

Let's not forget the buyout of Holtby 

Also buyouts of Spooner (Gagner), and Virtanen. 

 

We had an owner who wanted to be a GM, and a GM who thought he was a genius and ran on hunches "we live day to day", who didn't need any help, no capologist, no president, no chief of amateur scouting. Just him and his old hockey buddy Wiesbrod (who just left from screwing up Calgary's prospect pool). 

 

What could go wrong?

[CanucksJay]

On 1/5/2024 at 1:30 PM, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

Actually, digging around - this isn't a new revelation.  It was reported on last year.

https://canucksarmy.com/news/report-canucks-rejected-opportunity-reacquire-roberto-luongo-ltir-purposes-panthers-before-retired-2019

 

 

The only difference is that it didn't come out of the horse's mouth, but rather from media (which was presumed at the time to be speculation).

Lol

What was the offer though? 

Trade for Luongo so he can go on LTIR and have canucks pay his salary for the next 3 years or whatever while also sending Florida draft picks? 

 

It was probably a really crappy deal. 

Would love to hear what it was before we jump on Benning 

[DSVII]

1 hour ago, CanucksJay said:

Lol

What was the offer though? 

Trade for Luongo so he can go on LTIR and have canucks pay his salary for the next 3 years or whatever while also sending Florida draft picks? 

 

It was probably a really crappy deal. 

Would love to hear what it was before we jump on Benning 

The fact that Benning never picked up the phone to even find out is the point of contention here.

 

Shades of how Toffoli and Tanev were handled. 

[The Duke]

Yes, I’m sure the league that retroactively slapped us with the penalty would be just fine with us trading for a guy who was planning to retire and immediately putting him on LTIR.  Mega brain move there.  Nothing suspicious at all.

[LillStrimma]

17 hours ago, The Duke said:

Yes, I’m sure the league that retroactively slapped us with the penalty would be just fine with us trading for a guy who was planning to retire and immediately putting him on LTIR.  Mega brain move there.  Nothing suspicious at all.

At the time fans here slagged Lu for not want to retire with the Canucks so it has always been up on the agenda.

[iinatcc]

On 1/6/2024 at 11:45 PM, DSVII said:

The fact that Benning never picked up the phone to even find out is the point of contention here.

 

Shades of how Toffoli and Tanev were handled. 

 

I think Benning started talks with Tanev once the OEL deal with Arizona fell through. But Tanev felt so disrespected that he basically ghosted Benning. 

 

At least that's the story I heard 

[JeremyCuddles]

The amount of stories about Benning not talking to folks is wild. The fact he didn't even talk to Tanev, Stecher or Toffoli's camps going into free agency. Not fielding a call about the recapture. Just so much ineptitude. I remember how vocal Stecher's agent was about it. Stecher really did want to stay here and we probably could have kept him for cheap-ish.

[Canucklehead44]

On 1/6/2024 at 1:42 PM, CanucksJay said:

Lol

What was the offer though? 

Trade for Luongo so he can go on LTIR and have canucks pay his salary for the next 3 years or whatever while also sending Florida draft picks? 

 

It was probably a really crappy deal. 

Would love to hear what it was before we jump on Benning 

Coyotes picked up Weber for a 5th. What would have been the downside for Florida? They would have saved a tiny amount of cap as well.

[CanucksJay]

34 minutes ago, Canucklehead44 said:

Coyotes picked up Weber for a 5th. What would have been the downside for Florida? They would have saved a tiny amount of cap as well.

Oof

 

I just looked at the contract. 

Canucks would have paid 3.6m in total salary for all 3 years combined instead of 3.05m per year in recapture penalty for 3 years had they traded even a 3rd or 4th rounder... 

 

Yeah that's a total miss right there. 

 

But the story doesn't really add up. 

Didn't Luongo go straight to management with Florida after retirement? 

If he went on LTIR with the Canucks, I don't think he can do anything but wait until his contract expires after 3 years? 

[Gurn]

8 minutes ago, CanucksJay said:

If he went on LTIR with the Canucks, I don't think he can do anything but wait until his contract expires after 3 years? 

Not sure if the rules have changed, but Chris Pronger went on LTIR, and began working for the NHL league office.

[Johnny]

On 1/5/2024 at 11:41 AM, Sell.the.team said:

This is shocking if true... At least the Luongo recapture is behind us now and the team seems to be in OK shape.

Who knows what mess would be left behind if benning used that cap space

[Sell.the.team]

21 hours ago, JeremyCuddles said:

The amount of stories about Benning not talking to folks is wild. The fact he didn't even talk to Tanev, Stecher or Toffoli's camps going into free agency. Not fielding a call about the recapture. Just so much ineptitude. I remember how vocal Stecher's agent was about it. Stecher really did want to stay here and we probably could have kept him for cheap-ish.

 

Not here to blindly defend Benning but at some point if you know you can't make an acceptable offer it is probably more appropriate to offer nothing than an insulting low ball... 

[JeremyCuddles]

43 minutes ago, Sell.the.team said:

 

Not here to blindly defend Benning but at some point if you know you can't make an acceptable offer it is probably more appropriate to offer nothing than an insulting low ball... 

You don't need to offer anything. This isn't EA's NHL. Lol. These are people. Talk to them, let them know the situation. Hell, maybe they even take a 1 or 2 year cheap deal to make things work in the short term while you fix the cap situation. Not talking to people is idiotic and makes you look inept....

[flickyoursedin]

On 1/7/2024 at 3:56 PM, iinatcc said:

 

I think Benning started talks with Tanev once the OEL deal with Arizona fell through. But Tanev felt so disrespected that he basically ghosted Benning. 

 

At least that's the story I heard 

Man so disappointing still. RHD are just so hard to find and acquire. Tanev was already in house and looked great next to Hughes. Didn’t even get that outrageous contract we all thought it was going to be. Instead Benning wanted a LHD who had been trending negatively for 2 years already signed to what everybody already knew was a horrible contract. He just thought….well maybe he could find his game again here.

[DSVII]

4 hours ago, Sell.the.team said:

 

Not here to blindly defend Benning but at some point if you know you can't make an acceptable offer it is probably more appropriate to offer nothing than an insulting low ball... 

Shawn Matthias touched on this in his own ghosting situation with Benning but the appropriate thing is to let their agent know you won't be pursuing them so that they can start looking at other options for their clients as NHL spots are a premium (especially in the flat cap era) and not every team can guarantee a spot/contract value if these free agents don't move fast enough and early enough in the process.

Edited January 9 by DSVII

[KoreanHockeyFan]

Assuming this is true, how would this have actually been allowed? Wouldn't the NHL have disciplined the Canucks for cap circumvention? 

[Grandmaster]

Wrong thread

 

Edited January 9 by Grandmaster

[Theo5789]

Not everyone loves Lu

 

[filthy animal]

13 hours ago, Johnny said:

Who knows what mess would be left behind if benning used that cap space

Theres one way benning couldve used that cap space, have Ep40 for a long term deal. JP Barry mentioned the Pettersson camp wanted a long term deal but our dolt of a GM benning kept insisting on a bridge deal. Could you have imagined Peteys contract wouldve been years ago? It couldve not been.more than 8.5 mill per, and now because of dim Jim, its gonna start with 12

[Optimist Prime]

Just reacting to the title of this thread: If Luongo was hurt he should have been on LTIR, if he was not, then a call from Benning asking him to fudge it would be an incredible No NO. No GM would take that chance on a phone call: first of all tampering, second of all the optics of it seeming to be asking for the guy to commit fraud... I don't think any GM would make that phone call in the same situation.

 

Now the situation: that was a mess. The league was purely out to punish the Canucks for Luongo's deal structure, even though it was legal at the time it was made, AND likely looking for retribution about the Goalie as Captain issue. The Canucks got egg on Bettmans face there and i think the punishment for a preexisting legal contract was in part pay back for that. Just a thought, I could be totally wrong, but I can't shake the concept even years later. 

[AnthonyG]

On 1/5/2024 at 1:31 PM, R3aL said:

Thank you Jim and Aquaman. The management team was too small, and incompetent clearly. that is brutal. Wouldn't have happened with our current group. 

Lol Re-read that article.

 

”Luongo did advise his agent to make the call…… The Canucks for whatever reason never made the call” 

so he advised his agent to call, but it was the Canucks who didnt make the call? What?

 

[R3aL]

13 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

Lol Re-read that article.

 

”Luongo did advise his agent to make the call…… The Canucks for whatever reason never made the call” 

so he advised his agent to call, but it was the Canucks who didnt make the call? What?

 

Ya reads funny.

 

It could mean Luongo was open to it but all the canucks had to do was ask.

 

Or it could mean they never returned his agents call.

 

Based on Toffoli, Tanev etc I wouldn't put it past our group to not have called proactively or even return a call.

Edited January 9 by R3aL

[AnthonyG]

On 1/6/2024 at 1:42 PM, CanucksJay said:

Lol

What was the offer though? 

Trade for Luongo so he can go on LTIR and have canucks pay his salary for the next 3 years or whatever while also sending Florida draft picks? 

 

It was probably a really crappy deal. 

Would love to hear what it was before we jump on Benning 

 correct me if I’m wrong…

Say we made a trade to acquire Luongo with the intention of putting him on LTIR… we would have to be cap compliant day 1 with Luongo before we could put him on LTIR right? if we werent cap compliant we would be penalized and it would greatly affect our cap situation moving forward if we had any further injuries that would require LTIR… if I understand this correctly, we’d have to clear 5.4mil off the roster to fit Luongo under the cap, then activate him on LTIR for relief. Or use up the entire pool and have no relief?