You ask me, Luongo is the better goalie. Schneider has shown lots, he's shown himself to be a classy guy with a ton of potential, but he has done absolutely nothing in his career next to Luongo. Not to disparage the guy, but he does not have four playoff wins in his career much less a single series win. He hasn't shown he can play a full season at a high level. I think he can do those things, he has the talent and the mindset but Luongo has done all those things repeatedly for many years.
I know a lot of people in this area smoke a lot of dope, and even if you don't smoke lots of dope there's a lot of dope in the air, people can't remember a damn thing around here, it is known. Luongo was fantastic as a starter here and it was a blunder to appoint Schneider starter.
With hindsight, we can say he ought to have been traded before the Kings series. With an extra piece or two we could have won that series and trounced a weak field, with Boston, Pittsburgh, and Chicago all out in Round One. But we never have the benefit of hindsight in real time; who could have foreseen how that decision would play out? The important thing is that it's all over now.
Some things people don't want to think about when they're bashing Gillis over this trade: Schneider's deal would have been up in two years. If he played the way everyone seemingly expects, he would have been earning a million or two more against the cap than Lu will be. And another: only one goalie can start at a time. It's not whether Schneider is better than Horvat straight-up right now. It's whether Schneider is a Bo Horvat better than Luongo, taking into account age, contract status and all that...anybody has to realize that ain't the case.
From my perspective, and I have to say it is not the majority around here, my perspective is we were in a real tough spot and Gillis masterfully extricated us from it and got an excellent return. People bashing this deal, you don't get it. Trading one of our goalies for a decent return was imperative, you can only start one, it is known, and we got better than decent in Horvat, he is a Grade A prospect, OHL playoffs MVP, clutch, well-rounded guy who is ready for the pros.
Sure, we all liked Schneider, but if you're speaking executive decision-making at a high level, think with your head, not your heart. Bashing Gillis over this trade is stupid. It is arguably the best thing he's done since he got the job.