One of the most exciting pieces of news of the Boston Bruins’ 2023 offseason was the return of Milan Lucic to the team. He was signed to a one-year, $1 million deal on July 1 at the start of free agency. Needless to say, both he and the franchise are quite excited for his return.
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Lucic was selected by the Bruins in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Level Draft with pick number 50. The 35-year-old made his debut in the 2007-08 season, appearing in 77 games and registering eight goals and 27 points. He continued to grow on the ice, becoming an instrumental player in the team’s 2011 Stanley Cup championship run. That season, he had 62 points, including 30 goals, in 79 games. He added an additional five goals and 12 points in 25 playoff games.
The last few years have not been the kindest to Lucic as he has gotten older and he is not the same player that he was when he departed Boston nearly a decade ago. But he is coming off of a positive experience at the World Championship earlier this summer. With his experience and hopefully a boost from his return to Boston, he may just be better than people are anticipating in 2023-24.
Journey Back to Boston
On June 26, 2015, Lucic was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. In return, the team received Martin Jones, Colin Miller, and the 13th pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Level Draft, which the Bruins used to draft Jakub Zboril. The trade came in the early days of Don Sweeney’s tenure as general manager after a poor showing in the 2014-15 season that saw his points total drop from 59 in 2013-14 to 44 in 2014-15. With a contract that carried a $6 million cap hit, the team needed to clear cap space and start rebuilding after missing the playoffs. While he was a team favorite, it was seen as a necessary move to make at the time.
Lucic had a bounce-back season in Los Angeles, registering 20 goals and 55 points in 81 games. This earned him a seven-year deal at the start of the 2016 free agency with the Edmonton Oilers. Coincidentally, the GM at that time was Peter Chiarelli, the former Bruins GM who was replaced by Sweeney a few weeks before the Lucic trade. His deal with the Oilers carried an average annual value (AAV) of $6 million.
Over the course of the contract, Lucic’s production took a dip. He went from scoring 23 goals in his first season with the Oilers to only getting six in 2018-19, prompting a trade to the Calgary Flames in a one-for-one swap with forward James Neal.
With that seven-year, $42 million contract coming to an end this offseason, Lucic hit free agency and chose to return to Boston.
The Weight is Off
Lucic is coming off of a career-low 19 points in 77 games last season, but I do believe he can improve on that in Boston this season. Heading into free agency this summer, he talked about how his last contract weighed on him and the feeling of not living up to it.
“It’s like a weight lifted off my shoulders moving forward that I don’t have to think about it anymore.”
Vickers, Aaron. “Lucic to weigh options after winning gold with Canada at Worlds.” NHL.com. May 28. 2023.
The Lucic that takes the ice in Boston in October won’t have the same expectations on his shoulders. He no longer has a $6 million cap hit and is expected to slot in on the bottom-six, which will be a good fit for him. Last season, Nick Foligno had 26 points, including 10 goals, while playing in the bottom-six. If Lucic can match that, it would be a win for the team. That’s only seven more points than what he had this past season and is very much in reach.
There have already been some positive signs since the 2022-23 season came to an end. Lucic had a good showing as part of Canada’s gold medal-winning team at the World Championship in May. In 10 games, he had two goals and four points. Tournaments are of course different, but if he could average .40 points per game throughout an 82-game season, he would finish 2023-24 with roughly 32 points. Realistically, if he can contribute between 25 and 30 points this season, it would be a successful free agency signing.
Not Just About the Points
Contributing points are of course an important part of being a professional hockey player, especially on offense, but there are other factors that determine a player’s worth to a team. Two of the Bruins leaders in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci have just retired. While no one can truly emulate the leadership of Bergeron, Lucic is someone who can bring some of that to the locker room in this new era of the team.
I also think it will be a benefit to have him in the bottom six. Presumingly, there will be some young, inexperienced players there with him. Trent Frederic has not spent much time at center, and will potentially be trying to make the switch back to the position this season. Morgan Geekie, who is also looking at a center position, is still relatively inexperienced. Not to mention, there will presumingly be a prospect or two making the roster.
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Lucic has over 1,100 games of NHL experience under his belt. If the Bruins are going to commit to getting some younger guys experience this season (which I really believe they should) then Lucic is the kind of guy you want playing with them.
People may not have the highest expectations for Lucic and if someone is expecting the same player that left Boston in 2015 to be coming back to the ice, then they’ll be disappointed. But, if you can get 10 goals out of him and 25-30 points on top of his physical style of play and leadership experience for the young guys in the locker room, he might just be considered the team’s best value signing from this year’s free agency class.
