Roberto Luongo Reveals He Nearly Signed an Offer Sheet from Ken Holland

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Liam McCormick
November 14, 2024 (2:58 PM)

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Legendary former goalie Roberto Luongo revealed in a recent interview that he received an offer sheet contract from Ken Holland that would've kept him off the Vancouver Canucks.

Luongo detailed that when he was dealt to the Canucks in 2006, before he was able to sign with Vancouver, Holland's Detroit Red Wings offered him a larger contract in an offer sheet.

»I don't know if anybody knows this, but when I was traded to Van, I hadn't signed a contract yet. I actually got offer sheeted by Detroit.»
- Roberto Luongo

Luongo said he didn't even give much thought to the offer sheet from Detroit, and that his mind was set on playing in Vancouver after being traded there.

At the time, the Detroit Red Wings were perennial playoff team and Stanley Cup Contender under Ken Holland's watch. Adding Roberto Luongo to the later era of the Red Wings teams may have prolonged their playoff dominance, but as it turned out, it didn't matter too much.

Ken Holland instead signed goaltender Dominik Hasek for the 2006-07 season. A much more legendary goalie than Luongo, at 41 years old the Dominator started 56 games with the Red Wings, posted a .913 save percentage, and finished first place in the conference. Next year, they won the Stanley Cup again.

It's wild to think of the alternate scenarios in which Luongo never played for the Canucks and instead left for the Red Wings. Thankfully for Vancouver fans, they got to see Bobby Lou backstop their team for a great 8 seasons. After over 1000 games in the NHL without a championship, plenty of hockey fans were glad to see him win with the Florida Panthers as an executive last season.