Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini appeared on Sportsnet 650 Thursday where he talked about a range of topics, including the team's recent struggles, developing young players and whether he would consider retiring Roberto Luongo's number in the city.
On the team not making the playoffs since 2015, Aquillini says fans need to be patient. "In this business there are ebbs and flows. People have expectations to win all the time forever - that just doesn't work. There's always a new group of players that come in. We had a good team for many years, this new younger group comes in and need to learn what it takes. You have to be patient - there's no other choice."
When asked about the team recently placing winger Sven Baertschi on waivers, despite signing him to a three-year, $10.1 million contract in 2018, Aquilini said as an owner, all he can do is provide the best and as many resources as he can to the team's GM. He called it an unfortunate for Baertschi, as he believes he's a good hockey player.
On former goaltender Roberto Luongo retiring, Aquilini stated he's frustrated that Vancouver is stuck with a recapture penalty of just over $3 million for the next three seasons, but adds there's nothing he can do about it other than accept it and move on. When asked whether the team had plans for retiring Luongo's number, which the Florida Panthers will be doing this year, Aquilini said it won't be happening this season.
"We've got a lot of stuff going on with our our 50th anniversary plans, so no plans right now for Roberto - we might in the future but right now we don't."
Luongo spent eight seasons with the Canucks and was considered the team's backbone, even serving as their unofficial captain.
For anyone curious as to whether Aquilini would consider bringing an NBA franchise back to Vancouver (anyone remember the Grizzlies?) he stated "spending $2 billion on an NBA team is not something we're going to do. It's just not in our wheelhouse."
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