NHL Trade Rumors: Potential Suitors for Vancouver's Roberto Luongo

Roberto Luongo has officially become expendable in Vancouver.

After being benched for two consecutive games, including Game 4 where the Canucks found themselves with their backs up against the wall, Luongo was replaced with the younger and cheaper alternative, Cory Schneider.

After Vancouver management virtually married themselves to Luongo in offseason of 2009 when they signed him to a 12 year, $64 million deal, complete with no trade clause.

With Luongo falling out of favor in Vancouver, the Canucks' options are to either deal up-and-coming American goalie Cory Schneider, and stick it out with Bobby Lou for the foreseeable future, or the opposite, keep Schneider and find a new home for Luongo.

The following list explores four teams who might be interested in the former gold medal Olympian and Jennings Trophy winner. We ask the question, what would each of these teams be willing to give up for Luongo, and how plausible is an actual trade.

Florida Panthers

The only playoff team on this list, the Florida Panthers have put together a great makeshift team that has sent them all the way to the playoffs.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, the reality is that the party will have to end sometime. With the inconsistent Jose Theodore and journeyman backup Scott Clemmensen in between the pipes, you have to wonder if the Panthers would want a more stable solution in net before top goalie prospect Jacob Markstrom can take over full time duties.

Theodore will be a free agent this summer and Clemmensen is signed for one more year. If Florida is smart they will keep their playoff team chemistry intact and retain one of the two goalies for 2012-13 while giving Makstrom as much playing time as possible in the minors.

Despite being considered an elite goaltender in the league for a long time, Florida is one of the two teams Luongo was traded away from.

Florida made one of the NHL's most lopsided trades in history when they shipped then franchise netminder Roberto Luongo off to Vancouver for the declining Todd Bertuzzi, who was also the NHL's most famous pariah.

What It Would Take to Trade For Luongo:

The Panthers have a ton of cap room and a bevy of prospects, so acquiring Luongo would not be hard at all compared to some other suitors' chances. If the Panthers offer up a mixture of late-round picks, decent-enough prospects, and maybe a roster player if needed, Vancouver would be fools not to bite.

Toronto Maple Leafs

With incumbent goaltender James Reimer signed at a reasonable $1.8 million for the next two seasons, the Maple Leafs are a team that can afford to stick Reimer in a backup position for which he is much more well suited for.

Toronto is a market that demands a winner year in and year out, however the team simply hasn't been able to deliver a championship to their fans since 1967.

An established goalie may not be the final piece to the puzzle in Toronto, but it would be a great leap forward in qualifying for the postseason for the first time since the NHL lockout.

What It Would Take to Trade For Luongo:

Toronto has no cap space to simply take Luongo on for picks and prospects, there will need to be salary going Vancouver's way. The Canucks would be interested in having both Clarke MacArthur and Carl Gunnarsson, but Toronto would do well to keep both of them.

Toronto needs to get rid of Matthew Lombardi and Mike Komisarek, but Vancouver GM Gillis is too smart of take back either one of those contracts.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Simply put, Tampa Bay does not want a starting goalie, they need one.

Dwayne Roloson will undoubtedly retire after a paltry campaign after coming off a miracle playoff run a year before where he took his Lightning within one game of reaching the Stanley Cup.

Backup Mathieu Garon is serviceable in limited action, but he is not a starter by any stretch of the imagination.

Dustin Tokarski is not ready for the NHL and is not a viable option to start in the big leagues next year.

What It Would Take to Trade For Luongo:

The Bolts have the cap room with a number of players such as Mike Commodore, Brett Clark, and Dwayne Roloson leaving so they might need to dangle Ryan Malone or Victor Hedman to woo a trade. Ideally the Lightning would want to rid themselves of Vincent Lecalavier's contract, but is unlikely that the Canucks would be willing to take back another lengthy contract with even more of a cap hit.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus' most glaring need is goaltender. With an already porous defense that was only slightly improved by the addition of former Los Angeles defenseman Jack Johnson, it doesn't matter who is patrolling the blue line as long as Steve Mason is in net.

Mason's failures have been well documented after his Calder Trophy winning year under the helm of defensive mastermind and current St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock.

Columbus has no long term solution in place for Mason's replacement as management figured they had their goalie of the future in the young former Rookie of the Year.

Possibly the most desperate of any team in the entire NHL to land a legitimate goalie, Columbus, being the only Western team on this list might have to slightly overpay for Luongo's services.

What It Would Take to Trade For Luongo:

A top prospect not currently in the NHL would be nice, but due to poor drafting in recent years, that really isn't an option for the Blue Jackets.

Columbus, who picks second overall in next year's draft might be able to pull Luongo if they start with a trade package of their second-round pick in 2012 and keep adding from there.