Edmonton Oilers Season in Review: Milan Lucic

The biggest move for the Edmonton Oilers in the offseason was trading Taylor Hall for right-handed defenceman Adam Larsson. With Hall gone, Edmonton had to replace him and signed winger Milan Lucic to fill that void.

As Hall’s replacement, Lucic was supposed to bring scoring while also adding physicality and toughness to the top six. However, he has brought much more than that to the table.

Immediate Impact

Lucic’s largest impact was changing the team’s attitude and culture. Since the day he was signed, the 28-year-old preached the importance of a positive culture on and off the ice in Edmonton. He mentioned that other teams would not be afraid to play the Oilers of the past, and he wanted to bring that to the team. Not to mention, he wanted to do a better job of protecting Connor McDavid and making the Oilers more aggressive.

With that mentality, Lucic’s presence helped Edmonton form a brand new attitude in the first weeks of the 2016-17 season. They played with much more toughness and challenge, and made smart plays and came out with a rough-and-tumble style of play. This wore many of their opponents out, and also helped propel the Oilers to impressive standing almost immediately.

Edmonton Oilers

Stats

While Lucic had a great impact on the team culture and attitude, he also added scoring. Though inconsistent and slow at times, Lucic ended up with 23 goals and 50 points. He also threw 202 hits and racked up just 50 PIM.

There were times that he would step up and fight, but otherwise, Lucic would act as a tough presence and make smart plays. He would utilize physicality in the way that it would not draw harm to his team in the form of unnecessary penalties.

One area where he struggled was in puck possession. He had just a 1.8 relative Corsi and 49 giveaways for 26 takeaways. There would be times where he would turn over the puck, and he was a minus-3 this past season. Thankfully, he has the experience and physicality to improve in his defensive play over time.

Overall Grade: A-

Lucic’s impact on the team was remarkable. He helped them reach new heights and was instrumental in changing the culture and mentality in Edmonton. Lucic helped this team become a winning one, and was someone who inspired his teammates to reach new heights. He was also a part of helping the team not only end a lengthy playoff drought but make it all the way to the second round.

Overall, Lucic is a proven leader who also put up decent numbers. However, there would be droughts in his scoring, and he also needs to be better on the backend.