Roberto Luongo Inks Extension

Fans of the Vancouver Canucks can sleep soundly now as Roberto Luongo finally put pen to paper on a 12 year contract extension that will take him right through until the 2021-22 NHL season. The contract itself is reported to be worth an astonishing $64M and will be broken down over the course of the next 12 years.

Next season the goaltender will earn $10M and then $6.7M up to 2018. In 2018-19 Luongo will pocket $3.3M and then an estimated $1M for each of his 3 remaining years.

It will come as a welcome relief to the Montreal-born player as he admitted to pondering his options in the off season; however it always seemed as though the Canucks were forever going to hold onto him.

“Once the season was over, I took a few weeks and it was a clear decision for me and my family,” Luongo said. “We love Vancouver and I think the organization has handled us really well and given us a chance to win.

“So we’re really ecstatic and I was really thankful that Canucks management and (General Manager) Mike Gillis had the confidence in me to give me this contract.”

Since his arrival in 2006, Luongo has very much been the centre piece of the team and has recorded 30 or more wins in each of the last 4 seasons. Not content with just domestic hockey, Luongo has represented Canada and won gold at both the 2003 and 2004 World Championships.

The 30 year old is also a hot favorite to make one of the goalie spots as Canada prepares for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. After 544 NHL games it seems that Luongo will be around for some time yet.

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