Elliotte Friedman pushes Luongo as next Vancouver GM
Things have not been going well for the Vancouver Canucks this season. The team currently has a dismal 6-9-0 record and there has been plenty of chatter about the ones that got away. That mainly includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who has been playing well for Calgary, and Tyler Toffoli, who's been a force for the Montreal Canadiens. All of that falls squarely on the head of Canucks GM Jim Benning and many are already wondering if he'll last until the end of this season.
On his latest 31 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman mused over the Canucks current situation and who would replace Benning should he get the axe. Friedman seems to think the perfect choice would be Vancouver goaltending legend Roberto Luongo.
"Let's say there was a GM change in Vancouver, do you think they make a run at Luongo? Those fans love him," said Friedman. "If you're making the change here, why can't he do it? He knows the market. He knows the heat of it. He knows the craziness of it. Biggest question is, would he want it?"
There are certainly some "what ifs" involved here. Benning is still the current GM in Vancouver, while Luongo has been working for the Florida Panthers since his retirement from playing. He started as an advisor and now runs the team's goaltending department. Still, Hockey Canada has put enough faith in Luongo to name him the assistant GM of Team Canada for the 2022 Winter Olympics. That is a huge step forward for "Bobby Lu" if being an NHL GM is something he's truly interested in.
| POLL | ||
FÉVRIER 8 | 145 ANSWERS Elliotte Friedman pushes Luongo as next Vancouver GM Do you think Roberto Luongo would make a good GM | ||
| Yes | 86 | 59.3 % |
| No | 59 | 40.7 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Ryan Donato | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Travis Konecny | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jared Spurgeon | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nico Hischier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anders Lee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Timo Meier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Chandler Stephenson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| J.T. Compher | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Joel Eriksson Ek | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jesper Boqvist | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bobby Brink | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Blake Coleman | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nic Dowd | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 23 | 18 | 5 | - | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 33 | |
Wild | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 32 | |
Devils | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 32 | |
Capitals | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
Golden Knights | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 31 | |
Maple Leafs | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 28 | |
Panthers | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 27 | |
Kings | 23 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 27 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||