MAJOR: Details Of Failed Blockbuster Trade Emerge And It Could Have Changed The Entire NHL

PUBLICATION

Tyler Ball
September 4, 2023 (10:27 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Toronto Maple Leafs in 2013 Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the Eastern Conference's best teams. With a young core, they were looking to make a Stanley Cup Final run. One rumored trade that almost went down would've changed that team and the entire future of the NHL.

Luongo Becomes A Maple Leafs

Roberto Luongo was in his prime still in 2013 as a part of the Vancouver Canucks. The team was looking for a potential reset though and trading off Luongo was in consideration. According to new rumors one trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs made serious progress before ultimately falling through. The details of those negotiations are as follows.

To Toronto Maple Leafs:

Roberto Luongo

To Vancouver Canucks:

Nazem Kadri
Jake Gardiner
2013 First Round Pick (Became Freddie Gauthier)
2014 First Round Pick (Became William Nylander)

This trade would have been the blockbuster of the years. Teams heading in different directions potentially and a Hall of Famer coming to Toronto.

An Alternate Universe

With this trade, several players' and teams' ultimate futures would have been severely impacted. Let's take a look at how just the Canucks and Maple Leafs would change as a result.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, they finally get the goaltending stability they have craved. Luongo adds to their core headed up by stars like Phil Kessel and James Van Riemsdyk. However, they do lose out on a ton of top prospects including a member of the current core four in William Nylander.

For the Canucks, they add several picks and prospects to their arsenal. They also had a natural replacement in net waiting to take over in Cory Schneider. This would however cause them to lose out on future captain Bo Horvat as the pick they used to draft him was acquired in the Schneider deal.

Both teams in this deal turned out drastically different. The Canucks would eventually start a decline after the retirements of the Sedin twins.

On the other end, the Leafs would fall to the bottom of the league not long after 2013. This of course led them to get players like Mitch Marner and their eventual MVP Auston Matthews. While Maple Leafs fans would have loved Luongo I'm sure most would prefer to have Matthews in town.