Schneider Needs to be Benched... || November, 27, 2011

My congratulations to Cory Schneider, getting his 3rd straight win and putting up numbers that would make Tim Thomas' stat line look pitiful in comparison.  Schneider is making it pretty well impossible to get a puck past him, yet the Canucks need to bench him.  Here's why.

Schneider's salary this season: $900,000 (restricted free agent next season)
Luongo's salary this season: $6,716,000 (he's here for a while)

This season's goalie situation is looking quite similar to Boston's a couple years ago, when Tuuka Rask took the number 1 spot away from Thomas, but then Timmy T earned back his rightful spot and put up record breaking numbers.  Is that what the Canucks are hoping for this year?  I don't think so.  I don't think they're willing to have Luongo sit on the bench the majority of the season.  As good as Schneider is playing, he is the back up and should be, as long as we have Luongo on the same roster.  Roberto is the type of goalie that you can put into a situation cold, and expect him to perform.  He needs to play, and play lots.  Remember him in the middle of last season?  Remember that run of 17-1-2 the Canucks went on exactly 365 days ago?  That wasn't out of no where, that was a giant snowball effect.  Luongo got some momentum behind him and basically bulldozed his way into super human territory.  That's the Luongo we need right now.

Here's some situations:

1. We keep Luongo and Schneider, play them 50/50 and then hope for some trade offers on Schneider by the trade deadline (maybe a first round pick or a top-6 forward).

2. We keep them both again, but play Luongo about 60-70% like a regular number 1 goalie would play.  Still hope for some attractive trade offers for Schneider.

3. Schneider stays as number 1 for this season and hope he can get us deep into the playoffs.  Luongo will have to earn his spot back. Hopefully re-sign Schneider at the end of the season.

4. This is the most unrealistic scenario:  We play the hell out of Schneider, snubbing Luongo of any credit and playing time.  Try to force him to waive his no-trade clause so we can trade him, keeping Schneider as our new number 1.

I don't see any way that the Canucks are going to be able to keep both goaltenders starting next season.  The longest I see us keeping Schneider is after the playoffs.  Then Vancouver could go the Kyle Turris route, and re-sign him then trade him after showcasing his skill.  There is no way that Schneider is going to want to be a back up for much longer.  You don't think he isn't loving this opportunity he's getting right now?  This minor Luongo injury is probably the best thing that's happened to his career.  Now that he's had a taste for it, he's going to want to be a number 1 goalie.  You don't go to an all you can eat rib buffet, just to have a single mouthwatering hickory rib and then sit there and watch everyone else eat...

I'd love to see us keep Schneider and get rid of Luongo, I believe - and always have - that you can win a Stanley Cup with a good goalie and heavy firepower.  My dream scenario would be to trade Luongo, re-sign Scneider for anywhere between $3-5M (remember, Niemi signed a new contract after winning the Stanley Cup that had a cap hit of $3.8M).  Then use the extra money that we saved from Luongo's contract to get a top-6 forward.  There would have to be a lot of things to go right (or terribly wrong) for that to happen, but it'd be interesting.

What's your dream scenario?  Let me know what you think the Canucks should do or are going to do in the  comment section. (I read them all and really appreciate it)