The Toronto Maple Leafs Almost Secured a Hall of Fame Goaltender

A Franchise Goalie That Got Away

The Leafs' goalie situation is something they'd love to have permanently settled right about now. But a decade ago, that situation almost looked more solid than ever — that is, if a certain trade had gone through.

Twitter's @BigHeadHky recently posted a rumoured trade during the Brian Burke regime that ultimately never materialized. In it, Roberto Luongo would've become a Toronto Maple Leaf, while Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner, and two straight first-round picks (2013 and 2014) would go to the Vancouver Canucks.

Haunted by Missed Opportunity?

At first glance, this would've looked very much like a trade worth pursuing at the time for the Leafs. But given that the faces of that team at the time beyond Luongo would've been Phil Kessel, Dion Phaneuf and James van Riemsdyk, plus one of the first round picks being used to draft William Nylander, it's hard to envision that group getting over the top even with Bobby Lu in tow.

The Canucks also would've likely handed the goaltending reins to Cory Schneider permanently, even if his play would've declined in the years to come to eventually make way for Thatcher Demko. Keeping an eventual Hall-of-Famer in Luongo prevented that scenario from happening — but hey, at least the Leafs would've won Game 7 against the Bruins that year if Luongo was in net, right? Right?

As seen on Hockey Patrol