Uhhhhhh..... Luongo asked for a trade.
He's the ******-bag. It's amazing how people distort situations nowadays. 15-20 years ago when a player demanded a trade, everyone would lose it.
Gillis' only fault was almost trying to be too good of a guy and be good to Lu, while looking out for the Canucks.
Seriously Who the **** signs a 12 year deal then requests out -- PUBLICLY as well -- a couple years into it.
**** Roberto Luongo.
After the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, people were completely unsure about Luongo. The 2011-12 season began with Luongo in net, but as the season wore on and Cory Schneider's play continued to impress, Cory was given an opportunity in the 2012 postseason against the Kings.
After that, Roberto said he was open to the possibility of being moved if the team wanted to go with Schneider. This is when all of the trade rumors began and pressure mounted for the team to move Roberto.
Luongo's entire 2012-13 season was overshadowed by the prospect of him being moved. Mike Gillis was very picky about getting exactly what he wanted out of a Luongo deal, and so no trade occurred. Then Schneider was moved at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
After that, Roberto continued to say that he had severed his emotional attachment to the city of Vancouver and did not expect to remain with the Canucks. When Eddie Lack showed that he was a competent goaltender as well, another controversy arose. The team finally moved Roberto after the 2014 Heritage Classic.
If Roberto had outplayed Schneider and told the team that he wanted to stay, he probably would have stayed. Instead, Schneider matched Luongo's level in 2011-12, and then Roberto said he was open to being moved. That's what fostered the expectation that he would be traded. If Luongo wanted to stay, he would have stood his ground and not volunteered to be traded. It would have helped too if he had played well enough to justify keeping him over the younger goaltender. Seeing as Gillis could not negotiate a worthwhile deal during the 2012-13 season and there were calls about Cory Schneider, if Roberto really wanted to be here he would still be here.
He was moved in 2014 because his mind was already set on living somewhere else.