The Tampa Bay Lightning will be looking to make an upgrade in goal this summer, but it might not be with Roberto Luongo in their crosshairs.
Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman appeared on a Tampa Bay sports radio station on Thursday morning to discuss the team's offseason and suggested that his search for a No. 1 netminder might not happen through a trade as has been speculated.
"I think everybody's trying to find somebody that's an elite guy," Yzerman told 620 WDAE on Thursday. "I would say there's probably five or six elite goaltenders in the league and then there's a group of good goaltenders, and then there's a group of teams searching for that guy to lock up and not worry about for the present and the future.
"My philosophy is I'm trying to find that Hall of Fame goaltender. But good luck trying to do that, it takes time. We'll find that guy through the draft or unrestricted free agency — that guy isn't there at this time."
Luongo, whose wife's family is from Florida, has long been discussed in trade speculation involving the Lightning since he told reporters at the end of the regular season that he would waive the no-trade clause in his contract if he was asked to.
Luongo, 33, signed a 12-year, $64 million contract extension with the Canucks in 2009.
Files from 620 WDAE were used for this report.
