Milan Lucic 'just so happy and thankful' for new opportunity with the Bruins

In the days leading up to the NHL's opening of free agency, few moves are ever as certain to happen as Milan Lucic returning to the Bruins was.

The Calgary Flames gave the 35-year-old permission to speak with teams the week prior. Before the first round of the NHL Draft on Wednesday, multiple reports surfaced that Lucic would be headed back to his old stomping grounds of eight seasons once on Saturday rolled around. The echo chamber grew louder as the weekend crept closer.

Sure enough, just over an hour after the market opened, the Bruins made it official after days of rumblings. 

“Well, I mean there’s been a little bit of social buzz out there about Looch," Don Sweeney acknowledged at Warrior Ice Arena on Saturday. "Some of it has certainly been driven from Looch." 

Lucic said details were not formally discussed until Saturday, but he and Sweeney were previously in touch about a potential reunion.

Even before he inked the one-year, $1 million deal with a shot at up to $500,000 in performance incentives, it was a no-brainer.

"[Sweeney] asked me if I had any interest in coming back, and obviously it’s a place that’s close and dear to my heart," the winger said via Zoom. "Having the opportunity to come back, you can see the smile on my face right now. It feels like I’m going home. It’s always felt like I’ve been a Bruin, and I’m just so happy and thankful for the opportunity to be a Bruin again. Can’t thank Don enough for reaching out and making me a Bruin again. Thanks to him, Cam Neely and Jim Montgomery for bringing me back, and I’m looking forward to being a Bruin again.”  

The bruiser had apparently longed for a return to Boston. So much so, that before a deal was even in place, he went out and bought himself and his family Bruins merchandise to commemorate it. He simply couldn't wait until he got back home to Vancouver to sport some of the gear he already had. 

At 12:01 p.m. Saturday, a minute after free agency opened, Sweeney saw a text from Lucic on his phone. It was a photo of the winger wearing his new Bruins hat. 

"It was just something that, a handshake that we discussed where we could make a reunion here. I wanted to get some Bruins gear as quick as I could, and that’s why I made the purchase right away," Lucic said. 

After spending eight NHL seasons with the organization that drafted him in the second round in 2006, racking up 139 goals, 342 points and 772 penalty minutes in 566 games, Lucic was dealt to Los Angeles in Sweeney's third transaction as general manager. The package is still showing returns to varying degrees for Boston. The first-round pick received from LA became Jakob Zboril, still on the roster. The B's also received Colin Miller and Martin Jones, the latter of which they parlayed into a first-round pick (Trent Frederic) and former foot soldier Sean Kuraly. 

Eight seasons later, both Sweeney and Lucic will say that if it were up to them, No. 17 never would have left Boston in the first place. 

“I mean, when I think back, I had to have a flak jacket and a helmet on walking around Boston on some of those decisions," the general manager said. "They weren’t popular. They weren’t fun. They weren’t something I wanted to do. We looked back at it and back then at the time, we had at the time … With [Brad Marchand] coming on there was going to be six guys with long-term deals, and we just made a really hard decision. 

"It was one of the hardest ones I’ve ever made as a general manager, and it was early on. So, again, in a perfect world he never would have left. I was grateful to be able to bring him back and allow him to have the impact that he wants to have, and we’re excited about it.”  

Lucic said, "When I got traded, it was one of those things … I don’t even know how to explain it. I was excited that I got traded because I got traded to L.A., the Kings, and they just came off winning two Stanley Cups. I was going to a team with pedigree, and who doesn’t want to get traded to L.A.? I was excited about it, but also, you’re sad to move on from a place where you started ... There were mixed emotions as far as that goes. 

"It was one of those things… and as time went on, I guess I missed being a Bruin more and more as years went on. It’s really funny, I caught myself watching Bruins hockey games. I caught myself cheering for the Red Sox, cheering for the Celtics, cheering for the Patriots."

The Bruins and Lucic both feel the veteran still has something left in the tank.

However, he's cognizant of the fact he's no longer one of the league's preeminent power forwards that he was at his peak with the B's and even when he left Boston. 

"As time goes on, things change.," said Lucic, who's coming off a career-worst 19 points (7g) in his final season in Calgary. "Roles change, you change as a player and a person, that’s the thing. I’m not the same player and person who I was ten years ago. I understand that I’m going to be playing in a different role, in a new role."

But it's why Lucic, with a chip on his shoulder, called Hockey Canada himself and asked if there was room for him on the World Championship team, playing the reverse card rather than waiting for an invite that may or may not come. He still wants to win, especially after getting a taste of it on a Team Canada group that he had meaningful contributions to, serving as an alternate captain and chipping in a pair of goals and assists in 10 games en route to a gold medal. 

Sure, the good feelings and sentimentality may be there for the longtime fan favorite, but in the end, one goal still stands singular Lucic's mind.

"At the end of the day, my mindset is still the same as to what I’m trying to achieve, and that’s to win a championship," he said. "That was the main reason why I reached out and wanted to play for Team Canada in the championship. It’s because I wanted to win something again, and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity and got to win that gold medal in Finland this past May. That’s something I obviously want to experience again in the NHL. No better place to do it than in Boston if we can achieve that.” 

He added, "by no means is this just a reunion for a farewell tour. I’m coming back for the right reasons, I think I’m coming back to help this team continue to progress and chase a championship. I’m really confident in my abilities to help this team do that.” 

Lucic has seen it all in his 16 years as a pro. The highs, the lows – everything. His experience will be valuable on and off the ice for Boston as he's likely headed for a fourth-line role, where his edge and know-how will be valuable for younger players competing for the remaining roster spots in the lineup. 

“The coach obviously has a place for me, and you look at my role the past couple of years … I’ve been a 10 to 12-minute guy that can play anywhere in the lineup. But that’s ultimately something you would have to talk to Monty about and we’ve talked about that. I’m excited for whatever role he gives me," Lucic said of his on-ice expectations. "Off the ice, I think it’s just more the leadership role. Obviously, you lose a lot with the guys that aren’t coming back, but I’ve been through a lot and I can help with a leadership role and help with the young guys. But also, just bringing it every day; bringing it in practice, bringing it in games and all that type of stuff. That’s something I haven’t lost. 

"I have that fire every day, the competitiveness, whether it’s practice or games, just bringing it every day, bringing it in the gym, all that type of stuff. Those are the things that are required of me to bring on a day-to-day basis, and I’m looking forward to that.” 

He dished out 168 undoubtedly heavy hits in his 77 games with the Flames last season. He only fought three times, but his final fight of the season against fellow heavyweight Kurtis MacDermid showed that he's still got it in that area of the game. 

Toronto added Ryan Reaves (and Tyler Bertuzzi). The Canadiens have young Arber Xhekaj. Even if Tampa moved Pat Maroon, the Lightning still acquired Tanner Jeannot at the deadline. The Panthers will drive you mad with Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Ryan Lomberg, etc. The hulking Jordan Greenway remains a Sabre, and Ottawa has the younger Brady Tkachuk.

Lucic's sandpaper on the forecheck, along the boards, and in front of the net could be of use in a division that may not be the juggernaut it was last season (perhaps that role shifts to the Metro), but could be more rough-and-tumble on a nightly basis. Boston expects the 6-foot-3, 230-pound heavyweight's snarl to open up space for other players and even act as a deterrent, something many feel they could have used in playoff failures of years past.

"He feels like he has a lot of juice left and we feel he can provide a real jolt of both enthusiasm and bite to our lineup, he can help guys like Freddy and [Jakub Lauko]," Sweeney said. "He can probably create a little bit of space if somebody is breathing down [David Pastrnak's] neck, so it’s a thing we’ve missed and in a perfect world he never would have left, but those decisions were made and now we bring him back home and we’re happy about it.”  

Lucic already knows the role as somewhat of an elder statesman in Boston. He may have only been 27 when he was first traded, but he was Pastrnak's muscle in No. 88's first 46-game stint with the varsity club. 

But for as different as Lucic is now, there's also been plenty of turnover in Boston. The Bruins still await word whether Patrice Bergeron or Lucic's longtime center, David Krejci, will return. Brad Marchand, still playing at a high level, remains the only other skater of that core.

Still, it's not all unfamiliar to Lucic, who's had the chance to meet Charlie McAvoy and has twice been teammates with Derek Forbort (LA and Calgary). He's been in touch with fellow signees James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk, elder statesmen themselves these days.

Lucic already has Opening Night against Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, fellow Vancouver boy Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks circled on his calendar. He just wants to drop the puck, especially with his three kids now able to see and understand how much it matters to their father. 

"I’m looking forward to it really badly because I’ve thought about this moment for the last [eight] years," he said. "I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to put on the spoked-B, Black and Gold again. ... To get to relive that, it’s almost like I’m more grateful for it now than I was at the beginning because as time goes on, sometimes you don’t know how good things are until it’s gone. ... Not only that, not only for myself and the fans and the city, but I get to do this in front of my kids. My two girls were born in Boston, but they were two and newborn when I got traded. Now they’re 10, eight and five. 

"For me, to wear the spoked-B in front of my children just adds to it all. To get to do this in front of the fans again, it’s going to mean so much. Right now, I can’t wait for Oct. 11 when the first game happens in Boston.” 

Bruins fans have saluted and cheered No. 17 as a visitor in the eight combined years he was a member of the Kings, Oilers and Flames. But the second Wednesday night of October will offer an official reunion with the city that raised him.

"I’d been here since I was 19 years old. Yeah, I was born and raised in Vancouver, but I feel like I was really raised and became an adult in Boston and really became a Bostonian," Lucic said of his relationship with the fanbase. "It wasn’t like I was a quick flight away, I went from the Pacific all the way across to the Atlantic. I was across the country. I kind of had to learn how to be a Bostonian right off the get-go. It was one of those things where it was a match made in heaven, where my style of play kind of fit the Big Bad Bruins identity and all that type of stuff. It just fit the attitude and the identity of the city of Boston. 

"When I was younger, I used to just walk around the city and meet people and talk to people and all that. I’ve always been someone who’s very personable and shared a lot of good times with fans. I think that’s why I use the word personable, that’s probably the best way to describe my relationship with the fans. I’m really looking forward to that first game at home in Boston at the Garden, and I know it’s going to be rocking and I can’t wait for things to get going.”