Did Roberto Luongo refuse earlier deal with Maple Leafs?
Did Roberto Luongo give the thumbs down on a potential trade to the Maple Leafs last summer?
So says Sportsnet’s Doug MacLean, who claims Luongo refused to waive his no-trade at the time in the hopes that a deal was in the works that would have reunited him with the Florida Panthers, the team he broke into the NHL with.
According to MacLean, a tentative off-season deal for Luongo was in place at the time between the Leafs and Canucks.
“Luongo, at that particular time, believed that a deal was going to happen in Florida. He really believed a deal was coming through in Florida,” MacLean said Monday. “He was told by somebody close to the Panthers that a deal was going to happen, they were going to find a way and to be patient. Luongo turned down the deal with the Leafs. He would not waive his no-trade (to join) the Leafs, so the deal was off.”
MacLean claims that, had Luongo known the Florida discussions would not pan out, he would have given the green light to head to the Leafs.
Instead, as of Monday evening, he was still a Vancouver Canuck.
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/01/did-roberto-luongo-refuse-earlier-deal-with-maple-leafs