Canucks GM Mike Gillis to visit Roberto Luongo in Florida

The curious soap opera between Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks took yet another twist with news that GM Mike Gillis plans to visit the goaltender in his Florida home to clear the air. Gillis had better not book a return ticket for the same day, because this meeting could take a while.

The Canucks stunned the hockey world at last month’s NHL Entry Draft by trading Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for the No. 9 pick, which they used to select Bo Horvat. That came after almost a full year of talk about how the Canucks were trying to unload Luongo’s massive contract to another team while keeping Schneider as the No. 1 guy.

From the outside at least, it looks like the Canucks are in a major jam. They just fired Alain Vigneault and replaced him with the feisty John Tortorella and now need to do something to restore Luongo’s confidence and possibly commitment. It’s no secret the veteran netminder wants to play in Florida so where this saga goes from here is anyone’s guess. That said, Gillis is trying to stay positive about the situation ahead of his trip south.

“I will talk about the whole environment,” Gillis told the TEAM 1040 this week. “There has been so much stuff which has been misrepresented in what’s gone on here,” he said. “I want to make sure he’s absolutely clear about us and our motivation and what was going on.”

Meanwhile, Luongo has said next to nothing since Schneider was traded apart from tweeting “#NOtradeclause” that same day, alluding to the fact that his no-trade clause was part of the reason why the deal went down. Still, you have to wonder if Luongo’s had enough of Vancouver at this point. He’s a proud guy and it’s hard to imagine things going back to normal if he isn’t moved before training camp begins.

Luongo can still be an elite goaltender in the right situation. Despite all the distractions he went 9-6-3 with a 2.56 goals-against average and two shutouts last year. Now the big question is whether Gillis can persuade him smooth things over or finally decides it’s time to part ways. And if he does figure it’s best to have a clean break, what better place to be in Florida, home to the Florida Panthers – where Luongo was supposed to end up last summer?