LATEST | Former Canucks goaltender involved in trade for Joe Thornton: Blockbuster deal avoided

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Cooper Godin
October 30, 2023 (2:36 PM)

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After 24 seasons in the National Hockey League, Joe Thornton officially announced his retirement from professional hockey over the weekend. While he may not have played for the Canucks, he had a significant impact on hockey in this country, representing Canada on several occasions, including at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

On Monday, Sportsnet's Jeff Marek shared an exciting story of a trade that nearly went down involving Joe Thornton and former Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.

Marek said that the Bruins and Florida Panthers, where Luongo was at the time, were nearing a trade which would've sent the Hall-of-Famer to Boston in exchange for Joe Thornton. But the Florida Panthers had some issues with salary. They couldn't take money back in the deal Thu, ending any possibility of Joe Thornton playing for the Panthers until he signed with them as a free agent ahead of the 2021-22 season, his final year in the NHL.

"[The Panthers] tried to get Joe Thornton from Boston, and the deal was Thornton for Roberto Luongo one-for-one, But the Panthers owner didn't want to take money back."

A trade of that magnitude would have changed the landscape of the National Hockey League. With Luongo going to the Boston Bruins, it's fair to say that he would never have ended up in a Vancouver Canucks uniform and from Joe Thornton's side of things, he wouldn't have played for the San Jose Sharks and been a cornerstone of their franchise for 15 years.

Source: Markerzone.com