The Edmonton Oilers needed to replace Taylor Hall and went after the biggest free agent name of 2016. With a combination of scoring ability and physicality, as well as a huge positive voice, the Oilers signed Milan Lucic to a seven-year, $42 million deal.
Making $6 million each season, Lucic was expected to bring toughness, physicality and grit to the ice. Also, considering he can also shoot the puck, Lucic could also put up consistent point totals. This would fully fill Hall’s void by giving Edmonton scoring, and much more.
However, he has struggled to find twine this season and has been in a bit of a funk. He has just 11 goals and 28 points in 48 games this year. Usually, he is a 20-goal scorer who ends the season with point totals in the high 40s or 50s.
Not to mention, he was demoted to the third line after not having much chemistry with the top-six. Because of this, players like Patrick Maroon and Zack Kassian outshined him and made bigger impressions.
As many have analogized to a bear waking from its hibernation, Lucic had multiple breakthroughs and ended his slump in his best game of the season against Nashville Friday.
Lucic vs. Nashville
The 32-year-old forward came into action with a bang. He had a fight early in the game and was being physical and standing up for his teammates. However, later in the game, he made some questionable plays.
Not only did he take a delay of game penalty late in the game, costing his team less time to even the score, but he had a turnover after wrongly receiving a perfect pass on his tape, which resulted in a lost scoring chance and the puck going back down to the Oilers’ zone.
However, once that happened, he decided to make one play that showed he was ready to come back and be the $6 million player he is. Lucic sent a monstrous, clean shoulder hit to Austin Watson behind the cage.
This completely sent the Oilers into a frenzy and gave them the necessary momentum to tie the game. And when they did, it was Lucic driving the net that led to him ending his lengthy 12-game goal drought, a span over which he had just a single assist.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl set Lucic up perfectly in front, and he drove to the net, fooling everyone. But it was Lucic alone that got the Oilers at least one point.
Is He Out of His Funk?
I would hope he is. Lucic is a quality player and has made a huge impact for Edmonton, changing the culture off the ice and making them more threatening on the ice. He has been a huge voice in the locker room, and with the game he had Friday, he will surely be able to help the Oilers in more ways than he could earlier this year.
“Sometimes you have to get yourself involved physically and emotionally to break the drought you’re in,” Lucic told the media following the win.
And if he goes into each game with that mindset, the points will come.