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Canucks have entertained calls on both goalies

Roberto Luongo

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo waves to the crowd after being named the first star in the team’s win over the Minnesota Wild during an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday Jan. 4, 2012. Luongo earned a shutout while playing in his 700th NHL game in the team’s 3-0 victory over the Wild. (AP Photo/THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

AP

Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman spoke with the media Thursday and - surprise, surprise - Vancouver’s goaltending situation came up.

“Mike (Gillis) has entertained calls on both goaltenders...it falls into the category of ‘problems you don’t mind having’,” Gilman said, according to the Canucks official Twitter feed.

It shouldn’t come as a shock that Gilman specified that teams have inquired about Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider. After all, Schneider is younger and not tied down to a dangerously long-term contract. Of course, that’s also why most people assume that if Vancouver is going to trade anyone, it’ll be Luongo.

Over the last couple of weeks, the market value for Luongo has probably climbed. Tomas Vokoun, Josh Harding, and Anders Lindback are all off the market. At this point, the most appealing potential unrestricted free agent is probably Scott Clemmensen and the list gets significantly less appealing after that.

At the same time, the wrinkle in the Canucks’ plans might be Schneider. He’s scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer and Vancouver is probably hoping that he’ll agree to a long-term contract at a reasonable price. The nightmare scenario for Vancouver would be to trade Luongo this summer and then lose Schneider as an unrestricted free agent in the not too distant future.

For that reason, the possibility of Vancouver trading Schneider over Luongo can’t entirely be dismissed. If Schneider isn’t signed to a long-term deal, then sticking with Luongo might actually be the safer bet for Vancouver.