Can Lucic bounce back?

[Tobias Kahun]

JP was being used as a left winger last year.

Khaira isn't going to be playing center if they have settled on Strome as a C.

Youd rather Lucic be handed back a top 6 spot rather than give Jp a chance to play with some offensive talent?

JP wasn’t used as a left winger

 

[MaxR11]

watched him yesterday at the scrimmage and he still looked like last year's looch for the most part. slow decision making. a bit fumbly with the puck.

seems to lack confidence playing with drai. i think drai demands a lot and looch can't deliver to expectations. frustrating for both parties. reider looked fine though.

 

[I am the Liquor]

watched him yesterday at the scrimmage and he still looked like last year's looch for the most part. slow decision making. a bit fumbly with the puck.

seems to lack confidence playing with drai. i think drai demands a lot and looch can't deliver to expectations. frustrating for both parties. reider looked fine though.

Vets like him don’t give a shit about TC.

 

[MaxR11]

Vets like him don’t give a **** about TC.

perhaps he should after last season. i think he was trying but his composure with the puck and processing looks similar as last year. and to play with drai you should be able to make good plays with it when he gets it to you.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

perhaps he should after last season. i think he was trying but his composure with the puck and processing looks similar as last year. and to play with drai you should be able to make good plays with it when he gets it to you.

Lucic should be the guy who passes to Drai and goes banging in the corners. Create Havoc in front of the net. Use his hard shot. He should not be put in the role of playmaker.

 

[NeverForget06]

I think part of the problem is that the Oilers continue to try and jam Lucic into the top 6 where they would like him to succeed.

He's not going to produce just through wishful thinking and hoping for the best, they need to find a spot where he actually fits and can be a productive member of a line.

What that spot is? Your guess is as good as mine lol

 

[I am the Liquor]

perhaps he should after last season. i think he was trying but his composure with the puck and processing looks similar as last year. and to play with drai you should be able to make good plays with it when he gets it to you.

82 games + playoffs is a grind. Vets realize this and pace themselves accordingly.

 

[MaxR11]

Lucic should be the guy who passes to Drai and goes banging in the corners. Create Havoc in front of the net. Use his hard shot. He should not be put in the role of playmaker.

absolutely. but he has troubles with simple handles like taking the puck off the boards, settling it, taking a look and processing what to do with it. or when sometimes drai or toby needs to dish off to looch in a cycle or something he seems to have some difficulties processing and handling the puck even to make a simple or the right play. wasn't completely horrendous yesterday but you can certainly see some lack of confidence.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

absolutely. but he has troubles with simple handles like taking the puck off the boards, settling it, taking a look and processing what to do with it. or when sometimes drai or toby needs to dish off to looch in a cycle or something he seems to have some difficulties processing and handling the puck even to make a simple or the right play. wasn't completely horrendous yesterday but you can certainly see some lack of confidence.

Everyone has a role. Lucic's and Rieders should be to get Drai the puck.

 

[MaxR11]

Everyone has a role. Lucic's and Rieders should be to get Drai the puck.

reider looks like he can certainly lug the puck as well and make good plays.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

reider looks like he can certainly lug the puck as well and make good plays.

Hopefully that continues. He did score a nice goal.

 

[oobga]

Any info on Lucic's weight at camp? My confidence of him having a bounce back year will be pretty closely tied to that number.

 

[TheRebuild]

Lucic will be fine. He's one of these guys that takes time to warm up into the season. I don't know what happened last season, but I can totally see him being much better. It's not like he's 45, guy just turned 30.

 

[Louis Cypher]

JP was being used as a left winger last year.

Khaira isn't going to be playing center if they have settled on Strome as a C.

Youd rather Lucic be handed back a top 6 spot rather than give Jp a chance to play with some offensive talent?

Oh what to do with Lucic. That is the $6million question.

Hopefully the coaching staff handle his minutes properly and reward and push the younger guys with better minutes and linemates.

 

[Louis Cypher]

JP was being used as a left winger last year.

Khaira isn't going to be playing center if they have settled on Strome as a C.

Youd rather Lucic be handed back a top 6 spot rather than give Jp a chance to play with some offensive talent?

JP disappeared when on the left wing. Hes much better on the right.

 

[Louis Cypher]

Yes JP was used on the 4th line left wing. I remember vividly because I wanted to punch Tmac in the face. This was shortly after JP played with CMD and had a monster game. FFS.

 

[BlackDogg]

Any info on Lucic's weight at camp? My confidence of him having a bounce back year will be pretty closely tied to that number.

I heard he's even faster this year.

Or maybe that was someone else....

 

[Mr Positive]

Yes JP was used on the 4th line left wing. I remember vividly because I wanted to punch Tmac in the face. This was shortly after JP played with CMD and had a monster game. FFS.

there was a dark period last year where everyone was in wrong spots.
Drai on the wing. Strome on the wing. You are probably right that JP was left wing. Khaira at center. Lucic with McDavid. Lucic with RNH. Maroon was all over the place.

As I remember it, that last stretch was really encouraging. It wasn't necessarily in wins, but the team just looked better. I believe it was a line of Lucic-Strome-Puljujarvi. And of course RNH-McDavid happened.

 

[Bank Shot]

I heard he's even faster this year.

Or maybe that was someone else....

Everyone is faster. Everyone is in better shape.

 

[Soundwave]

Any info on Lucic's weight at camp? My confidence of him having a bounce back year will be pretty closely tied to that number.

His problem isn't weight. He was in good shape last year too. He's a big guy, and always will be. His problem is that to play with McDavid or Draisaitl you need to process the game quickly and have good puck skills ... and he is not very good in either of those areas.

No Jenny Craig diet is fixing that. He's better off just keeping the weight and gooning it up if he can't work with McDavid and Draisaitl. And before someone says it again, Lucic's numbers are far worse with Draisaitl, they are horrendous together and the team gets outscored like crazy when they are playing together.

 

[Mr Positive]

And before someone says it again, Lucic's numbers are far worse with Draisaitl, they are horrendous together and the team gets outscored like crazy when they are playing together.

Yes, as I recall, Lucic and Drai had a really good stretch in the playoffs against Anaheim. So we put them together last season but it didn't work at all. So hopefully our management is not eager to learn that lesson all over again. But in camp maybe give it a try and see if Lucic switched something up.

 

[oobga]

His problem isn't weight. He was in good shape last year too. He's a big guy, and always will be. His problem is that to play with McDavid or Draisaitl you need to process the game quickly and have good puck skills ... and he is not very good in either of those areas.

No Jenny Craig diet is fixing that. He's better off just keeping the weight and gooning it up if he can't work with McDavid and Draisaitl. And before someone says it again, Lucic's numbers are far worse with Draisaitl, they are horrendous together and the team gets outscored like crazy when they are playing together.

Maybe he was in good shape, but I don't think he was in the right kind of shape. He admitted as much at the end of last season that he was probably hitting the weights too hard last summer. Came in like a body builder bragging about low body fat %, and it was no surprise that as the season wore on, he was gaining weight.

Guy need to get some speed to just keep up with this league now. I don't have that high of hopes either way, but to be at all useful, he needed to shed some weight and work on speed and forget building up the upper body like a maniac in the name of epic body fat % numbers.

 

[Tyrolean]

If he doesn't improve he should be put on waivers then if no one takes him, go to the AHL. Of course, that may mean he's untradable, so the Oilers are forced to keep him in hopes he improves enough to be traded. After this season, they might have to eat the contract or convince him to retire.

 

[Throttlehead]

If he doesn't improve he should be put on waivers then if no one takes him, go to the AHL. Of course, that may mean he's untradable, so the Oilers are forced to keep him in hopes he improves enough to be traded. After this season, they might have to eat the contract or convince him to retire.

Ok thats a little over the top. He obviously had a really bad second half last year, but he is fully capable of bouncing back to his career norm. Its happened to several players under this coach, he has a way of killing confidence in players.

 

[MessierII]

If he doesn't improve he should be put on waivers then if no one takes him, go to the AHL. Of course, that may mean he's untradable, so the Oilers are forced to keep him in hopes he improves enough to be traded. After this season, they might have to eat the contract or convince him to retire.

He can’t be demoted. He has a NMC.