Snapshots: Luongo, Johansson, Spurgeon

Although his salary is set to be cut in half for next season and the fact that he recently turned 39, Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo has no intention of retiring, he told reporters, including Jameson Olive of the Panthers’ team website.  While the netminder still has four years on his contract left after this one, it’s highly unlikely he plays for all of those considering that the combined salary for those seasons is $7MM; for comparison, he made nearly $27MM the past four years.  Not surprisingly, this is a contract that is still subject to salary cap recapture if he happens to retire before his contract finishes.  Luongo is coming off an injury-riddled season but played quite well when he was in the lineup, posting a .929 SV%, his best mark since 2003-04.

Elsewhere around the league:

• Although he has been cleared to participate in a full practice, it appears that Devils center Marcus Johansson is slated to be a scratch for their playoff opener on Thursday night, reports Abbey Mastracco of The Record. The 27-year-old has been out of the lineup since suffering his second concussion of the season back on January 23rd.  While his production had dipped prior to the injury, his return to full health should be a boost for New Jersey as they get set to take on Tampa Bay.
• While the Wild will be without blueliner Ryan Suter for their postseason run, they are getting closer to getting a key defender back in the lineup. John Shipley of the Pioneer Press notes that Jared Spurgeon made it through a full practice for the second straight day but head coach Bruce Boudreau is calling him a game-time decision for Wednesday’s game against Winnipeg.  Spurgeon tore his hamstring back on March 13th and was initially diagnosed to be out for a minimum of a month so it appears he is right on schedule.  If Spurgeon can’t play in Game One, Shipley suggests that Ryan Murphy will make his postseason debut instead.