It was announced Tuesday that the St. Louis Blues had signed former Edmonton Oilers winger, Milan Lucic to a professional try-out contract (PTO). Lucic 37, last played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins in 2023-24 before taking a personal leave and entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.
Lucic was once one of the league's most feared heavyweights at 6'3 and 236lbs, especially as a member of the Bruins earlier in his career, where he was dominant on the score sheet and between the whistles.
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Lucic was drafted in the Second Round 50th Overall at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Bruins. He was an instrumental member of their core for eight seasons between 2007 and 2015, compiling multiple 60-point seasons and helping the club win a Stanley Cup in 2011.
After being dealt by the retooling Bruins in 2015 to the Los Angeles Kings for Martin Jones, Colin Miller and a First Round pick at the 2015 NHL Draft, Lucic netted 55 points in 81 games as a member of the Kings in 2015-16. He then walked as an unrestricted free agent (UFA) and chose to sign a max-term seven year contract with an annual average value (AAV) of $6 million.
Lucic was seen as a stabilizing veteran presence and able to add some needed toughness with a scoring flair for the Oilers who were on the upswing after drafting generational talent, Connor McDavid First Overall in 2015. He was placed on McDavid's wing and he produced at a decent rate, scoring 23 goals and 27 assists for 50 points in 82 regular season games. He added another six points (two goals, four assists) in 13 playoff matches.
The production was not bad but a little disappointing and with an obvious mismatch given his speed or lack thereof, especially next to McDavid, the fit was evidently not there. Over the next two seasons with the Oilers, his play would continue to decline scoring 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 82 games the next year as the team missed the postseason and then 20 (six goals, 14 assists) in 79 games with yet another missed playoffs, the team was forced to admit defeat and move on from their big free agent acquisition.
Luckily just a few hours down the road, their provincial rival Calgary Flames had another high priced free agent acquisition that was struggling to work in James Neal. The two clubs put aside their differences and made a trade that sent Milan Lucic (with a 12.5 percent salary retention) and a conditional Third Round pick in 2020 to the Flames for James Neal.
Neal saw a slight resurgence with the Oilers scoring 19 goals in 55 assists in 2019-20 before the club bought out the final two years of his contract in 2021. Lucic on the other hand, was a great addition to the Flames' bottom-six, carving out a consistent spot in the lineup as a role player for the club. He remained there for the life of his contract, signing a one-year deal with the Bruins ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Now after over a year away from the game, the veteran of over 1,100 NHL games is attempting to make a comeback. Whether successful or not, Lucic has had a great career, scoring 233 goals and 353 assists for 586 points and 1,301 penalty minutes in his 1,177 career games. He also has quite the lengthy fight card in the NHL with well over 100 bouts across the regular season and playoffs.
Hopefully for Lucic and the Blues, he can find his way into an NHL role once again.