#8. Roberto Luongo Could Have Been a Leaf
The Trade:
- Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Wendel Clark, Mathieu Schneider and D.J. Smith
- New York Islanders acquire: Sean Haggerty, Darby Hendrickson, Kenny Jonsson and 1997 1st Round Pick (Roberto Luongo)
After trading Clark two years prior, the team brought him back in a move with the New York Islanders. It was awesome to see the fan-favourite back in Toronto, but it wasn’t worth it.
Schneider was a great addition and the team didn’t lose sleep over giving up Haggerty, Hendrickson and Jonsson, but it was that first round pick that was so valuable. That first-round pick turned into the fourth-overall selection and with that pick, the New York Islanders selected Roberto Luongo….YIKES!
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, goaltending actually wasn’t an issue for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but their entire franchise could have been different had they kept that first round pick and selected Luongo. For arguably the next 20 years, Luongo was a top-10 goaltender in the NHL and if you had him your team had a chance to win every single night.
Luongo may never have won a Vezina Trophy or a Stanley Cup, but his stats are as consistent as any other goalie in his Era. He played on a ton of terrible teams in front of him, but when he finally had a good set of defense and forwards, he helped get the Vancouver Canucks to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Had Luongo been the goaltender for the Leafs, the history of the team would have been different. He may have helped get Toronto over the edge in the early 2000s and make it to a Stanley Cup Finals, or the team probably would have made the playoffs between 2005-2013. Having a number-one goaltender like Luongo completely changes the mindset of your team and the the Toronto Maple Leafs 100 percent would have at least won a playoff series in the last 15 years if he was their net-minder.