Before Roberto Luongo ever became one of the best goaltenders in the NHL,authentic Ryan McDonagh jersey, he could have (and should have) been a member of the Calgary Flames.
Speaking on TSN 1040 radio in Vancouver on Wednesday, adidas Travis Hamonic jersey,former Flames general manger Craig Button shared the details of a trade he wish he made at the NHL Draft in 2000.
“When I first took over in Calgary, Mike Milbury in Long Island was moving Roberto Luongo and he ended up trading him to Florida,adida Taylor Hall jersey, who is now a hockey analyst with TSN. “I could have traded Derek Morris for Roberto Luongo at that time.,adidas Cory Schneider jersey,” said Button
“At the time,authentic Travis Hamonic jersey, coming in,adidas Ryan McDonagh jersey, I felt like it was a situation where I really liked Derek Morris and I didn’t want to start manoeuvring around too much. But boy, that would have been a real good move.”, I look back at that, especially with some of the goaltending challenges we had in Calgary at the outset
Button became GM of the Flames in 2000, a position he held until 2003. Fred Brathwaite was Calgary’s starting goalie in Button’s first year as GM.
Luongo, just 21 years old at the time, returned just Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.,authentic Cory Schneider jersey, was eventually dealt by the New York Islanders to the Florida Panthers in a regrettable decision by Milbury. The trade, which also saw Olli Jokinen head to Florida
The decision to trade Luongo was facilitated because Milbury wanted to draft Rick DiPietro first overall – passing over Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik to do so – also a regrettable decision.
Morris, just 21 at the time,authentic Taylor Hall jersey,so you can understand why there was a reluctance to trade him.,adidas John Tavares jersey, was a good young defenceman thought to have a bright future on the Flames’ defence. He was coming off a 38-point season in his third year in Calgary
Morris wound up playing 1107 NHL games,authentic John Tavares jersey,but he never became a star. Button eventually traded him to Colorado two years after the potential Luongo deal., so he was certainly a serviceable player
Luongo, meanwhile, went on to become a perennial All-Star with the Panthers, and Ed Belfour., before moving on to the Vancouver Canucks (and back to the Panthers). He’s currently fourth on the all-time goalie wins list behind only Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy
