Even with the NHL lockout in one of its darkest days yet, there's no shortage of trade rumours - particularly regarding Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Canucks general manager Mike Gillis told TSN on Friday that all the rumours on the web and on Twitter this week of Luongo going to the Toronto Maple Leafs after the lockout are "not true."
The league's lockout rules prohibit discussions between teams on player transactions, but Gillis admits he did have several serious discussions with teams prior to the lockout and that as many as five teams remain in the mix from those pre-lockout talks.
Many still believe Luongo's former team the Florida Panthers are the frontrunners and if a new collective bargaining agreement includes the freedom for teams to retain salary in trades, it may encourage the Canucks to take back a more expensive player as part of a package.
Luongo was displaced by Cory Schneider as Vancouver's starting goaltender in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs as they bowed 4-1 to the eventual champion Los Angeles Kings. The Canucks subsequently signed Schneider to a new three-year, $12 million contract.
Luongo, who still has 10 years left on his 12-year, $64 million deal, said in the week leading up to the start of the lockut that the Canucks had not asked him to submit a list of preferred teams and he will wait until Gillis had a deal for him to consider.
