I think Toronto and Tampa both make sense. Of course, Luongo doesn't seem to like the pressure, so going from Vancouver to a bigger pressure cooker in Toronto doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Don't forget he has a NTC.
I think Tampa makes the most sense, I just wonder if they think the investment is worth it. They were able to milk a good playoff run out of Roloson for cheap. You have to wonder if they either...
A.)Would rather try to find an average goalie on the cheap
or
B.)Want to bring in a guy under a contract that will run through his early 40's after watching Roloson turn back into a pumpkin this year.
Still makes sense to me, and there obviously is always a need for a top 10-12 goalie. I just have to wonder how much the "choker" label affects his value. His first year with Vancouver was practically pressure free since he was almost playing with house money in the first playoffs of his career. He only won 1 series that year, against the Dallas Stars who were ranked 21st in overall offense that year. He then put up a 2.66 GAA to Anaheim. Since then, his playoff numbers look like:
49 games, 27 wins and 22 losses, .908 save %, 2.69 GAA
That doesn't exactly instill confidence that he'll be the guy to take you to the promise land. In fact, you can seriously argue that you may never win with him as your #1 goalie if you believe that he's a playoff choker. In the end, one great quote
from wikipedia tells you all you need to know about Roberto Luongo. In game 5 against the Anaheim ducks, an elimination game, Luongo put up his best showing of the playoffs by posting 47 shots and only giving up 1 goal. He was then pulled before overtime and replaced with another goalie.
At the start of overtime, Vancouver unexpectedly switched goalies, later revealing Luongo had an untimely case of diarrhea.
Yep. That seems about right.