Roberto Luongo's paycheque was finally settled on Thursday, as an arbitrator has awarded him a one-year, $3.2 million US contract.
Luongo and the Florida Panthers met in a salary arbitration hearing Wednesday morning in Toronto, just minutes after he reportedly rejected a five-year $25 million US deal.
"If the price would have been right I would have agreed to a five-year deal," Luongo told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel after the hearing. "That was the bottom line. In the end they didn't want to take the extra step."
It was the first case in NHL salary arbitration history in which the club elected to take a player to third party discussions.
Luongo and his agent Gilles Lupien were reportedly seeking a two-year deal at $4 million US per year that would make Luongo eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2007. A longer term, according to Lupien, would require a higher annual salary.
"I think my numbers are right," Lupien told the Palm Beach Post on Tuesday. "I said to (Panthers General Manager) Mike (Keenan), 'Give him four (million) and four (million) and you've got two full years to find out what number you want to give.' If you go to arbitration, it's over. You'll have to trade him."
Keenan told the media that he made a "very fair offer" during the weekend, which according to Lupien, included no specific dollar amount.
Luongo enjoyed a career season with Florida in 2003-04, establishing an NHL record for saves in a season with 2,475 while leading the league with a .931 save percentage. He was also a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best netminder.
The Montreal native, who played his junior hockey with Val d'Or, was taken fourth overall by the New York Islanders in 1997 and played 24 games with the team before they traded him and centre Olli Jokinen to Florida for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.
Luongo has a 80-138-33 record over five NHL seasons.
The Panthers can begin renegotiating with Luongo on Jan. 1 for another long-term deal. As a restricted free agent, the netminder can seek arbitration next summer or negotiate a new deal with the team.
If there is no deal by Dec. 1, 2006, Luongo would be forced to sit out the 2006-07 season before becoming an unrestricted free agent at the completion of that season.
Files from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Palm Beach Post were used for this report.