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Del Bianco, a former league MVP who’s from Coquitlam, announces on Instagram Tuesday that he won’t re-sign with Calgary Roughnecks
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Published Jul 23, 2024 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 3 minute read
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Calgary Roughnecks goaltender Christian Del Bianco defends as the ball sails over the net during a game against the Saskatchewan Rush on WestJet Field at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday, April 5, 2024. Photo by Cliff McCaig /Postmedia
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What would you pay in a trade to get the best player in your league? Rest assured, Vancouver Warriors general manager Curt Malawsky is calculating that right now.
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Goaltender Christian Del Bianco, who’s from Coquitlam, announced on his Instagram page Tuesday morning that he wasn’t re-signing with the Calgary Roughnecks because he wants to stick close to home this winter to focus on his Del Bianco Contracting home renovation business and his upcoming wedding.
Del Bianco’s a free agent, but National Lacrosse League teams can put a franchise player tag on one member of their squad, and Roughnecks general manager Mike Board had told Calgary media recently that they planned to do that with Del Bianco. There’s no way they’ll let him go as a free agent, so a trade would have to happen for him to play elsewhere.
The Warriors landing Del Bianco would be akin to the Vancouver Canucks landing goalie Roberto Luongo in 2006. He’s that kind of potential difference marker.
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Del Bianco turns 27 next month. He was the league’s most valuable player and top goalie in 2023. If he’s not the best player in the league, he’s certainly in that conversation, at the very least. He’s well spoken, the kind of guy an NLL team could market around. He was part of a fundraising program for KidSport during his tenure with the Roughnecks.
What’s the cost in a possible trade? Two or three of your best young players plus multiple draft picks? It could wind up being the biggest trade ever in the NLL if it happens. Let the speculation begin.
If Calgary won’t trade him and he won’t play there, he’s sitting out.
He’s been with Calgary since 2016. He’s got another five years before he can turn down the franchise tag.
Playing in Vancouver would mean travelling for just nine games of the 18-game regular season. Playing in another city means that he’d have to fly in and out every week for all 18. The players in the league don’t make enough money to not take a day job.
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Malawsky is also a Coquitlam product. He had coached Calgary for 10 seasons before signing on with the Warriors last summer as coach and GM. Vancouver missed the playoffs this past year, but their 8-10 finish was a jump from their 4-14 season the year before. They won five of their final six games.
Curt Malawsky Photo by Clarissa Sabile
The Vancouver Canucks bought the team in 2018, moving it from the Langley Events Centre to Rogers Arena.
Del Bianco wrote on his Instagram: “Dear Roughneck fans, thank you so much! I came as a teenager to play in Calgary and I was overwhelmed by the support you fans gave this team, my appreciation for you only grew from there. To run out onto the floor with the fireworks blasting, to hear you chanting has been incredible. I hope in some way I returned the excitement.”
He added: “No longer a teenager, but as someone who runs his own business, is about to be married I let the organization know shortly after the season that my life off the floor is my priority and when my contract ran out I would not be re-signing in Calgary.”
Del Bianco finished the post with: “My memories will be of you the fans, all whom I have met and had such great interactions with, for every save I made I had twice as many smiles. Who knows what the future holds with my lacrosse career but the past as a Calgary Roughneck has been incredible.”
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Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/lacrosse/mvp-nll-goalie-christian-del-bianco-balks-at-re-signing-with-calgary-roughnecks-could-vancouver-warriors-get-him-in-a-trade