MAJOR: Toronto Maple Leafs Nearly Acquired A Hall Of Fame Goalie
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been on the hunt for a franchise goaltender for well over a decade now. They have tried several different avenues to acquire such a goalie but ultimately fell short. According to a new rumor they almost had their answer thanks to a trade.
Leafs Get Their Goaltender
According to a new rumor the Toronto Maple Leafs were close to acquiring a goaltender in 2013 when Brian Burke was in charge. The Leafs are rumored to have made a huge push to acquire Hall of Famer Roberto Luongo.
The rumored trade is as follows.
Roberto Luongo
To Vancouver Canucks:
Nazem Kadri
Jake Gardiner
2013 First Round Pick (Became Freddie Gauthier)
2014 First Round Pick (Became William Nylander)
This trade would've had massive effects on both franchises in the short and long term.
What Could've Been
The amount of changes in NHL history this would cause would be insane. Let's take a look at some of the biggest changes potentially caused.
For the Vancouver Canucks Cory Schneider would likely have become their franchise goaltender. He would not have been shipped off to New Jersey and would have had a chance to be their team's best goaltender in franchise history. Assuming the draft results stay the same Vancouver also loses out on Bo Horvat as they do not make the Cory Schneider trade.
For Toronto, they lose out on young players like Kadri, Gardner, Nylander, and Gauthier. This likely creates a situation where the Leafs go all in and collapse if they do not win in the next couple of seasons. However, their odds also would've increased to win in the 2013 game 7 against the Bruins.
This trade scenario has become infamous for being one of the biggest what-could-have-been situations in NHL history. Luckily looking back now for Toronto they kept their prospects and have built up one of the best young cores in the league while Vancouver struggles near the bottom of the league.
| POLL | ||
Who would have won this rumored trade? | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 613 | 45.1 % |
| Vancouver Canucks | 747 | 54.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
