The Bruins appear to be headed for a reunion with old friend Milan Lucic once free agency officially opens on July 1 (Saturday).
Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK Television in Vancouver first reported the possible reunion before following up his initial Tweet by writing, "Lucic to the Bruins will happen." TSN insider Chris Johnston reported, "With Milan Lucic free to speak with teams ahead of free agency opening Saturday, it sounds like a reunion with the Boston Bruins is a strong possibility."
In his pre-draft blog, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman wrote that a Lucic return to the B's is "all but imminent." Friedman also wrote, "I think Boston has one more move in them to clear space. We’ll see."
Lucic has reportedly had permission from Calgary to speak to teams since last Tuesday.
The Vancouver native is coming off a season with the Flames that saw him post seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 77 games, the lowest point total of his career. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound bruiser was also a minus-13, the worst mark of his career. He also dished out 168 hits, serving in a fourth-line capacity, mainly.
The 35-year-old seems open to the idea of a return to the franchise that he won a Stanley Cup with in 2011, playing eight seasons in Boston before being dealt to Los Angeles in the 2015 offseason.
“Obviously it’s a special place for me and it will always be a special place for me,” Lucic told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun recently. “But we’ve got, what, 11 days to see what happens (before July 1)? We’ll see what happens and then go from there.”
BSJ Analysis...
- I don't hate it nor see the harm in it, but that does come with a couple of huge caveats.
- First, it would almost certainly have to be on low, low money to make it worth it for Boston. Nothing more than slightly above a veteran minimum ($750k).
- Second, Lucic cannot be expected to play an elevated role. He is no longer the unicorn bruiser and scorer that he was during his best years in Boston. Think a Nick Foligno type – someone to play lower in the lineup and bring a valuable veteran presence. Now without Foligno, the Bruins could have a use for someone like that, especially if the youth push that Don Sweeney talked about on Tuesday is indeed coming.
- Lucic, although by far not the fleetest of foot, also still brings his patented snarl and physicality. Never a bad thing to have on your fourth line. That feared presence along the boards, on the forecheck and in defense of teammates could go a long way with more younger players on the roster.
- Again, a sheltered role is best. Boston needs some speedsters like Jakub Lauko to fill holes in their lineup. Lucic is obviously counterintuitive to that approach. He might need the right linemates and right matchups if he's going to play on a consistent basis.
- Continuing on the sheltered role if we're going to stick with the Foligno archetype, Foligno was trusted defensively in Boston. He started 120 of his 5-on-5 shifts in the defensive zone in 2022-23 (compared to 35 in the offensive zone). Lucic has consistently started the vast majority of his shifts in the offensive zone. This past season in Calgary, 70 of his 5-on-5 shifts began in the defensive zone (125 began in the attacking end).
- Again, even with the drawbacks, it's not a horrible idea for the Bruins based on Lucic's presence and the role he would fill alone, even if some of the slack might need to be picked up by others around him. I don't know if I'd hand him any more than $1 million, which for a team as capped out as Boston, might be too much too. The contract has to be cheap.
- Funny how once reports begin to pop up about Lucic heading to Boston, Toronto is all of a sudden in on Ryan Reaves, per Friedman and Darren Dreger.
