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Milan Lucic Hints at Signing With Vancouver Next Off-Season.

JA

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Milan Lucic is slated to become a UFA at the end of this season. He told the Bro Jake Show that he's open to the idea of reaching UFA status and joining the Canucks -- it looks like all they'll have to do is make an offer. Jim Benning already tried to acquire Lucic at this past NHL Draft, so there's probably interest on the part of the Canucks.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=777956&navid=nhl:topheads
Kings' Lucic can see himself playing for Canucks
Monday, 08.31.2015 / 11:24 PM / News
By Mike Battaglino - NHL.com Staff Writer

Los Angeles Kings forward Milan Lucic, entering the final year of his contract, said Monday he's always dreamed of playing for his hometown Vancouver Canucks.

"I honestly don't know what's going to happen moving on," Lucic told TSN 1410 Radio in response to a direct question on the topic. "I mean I have one year left on my contract, and there's a possibility that I can hit the [unrestricted free agent] market. ...

"It's obviously something that's been a dream of mine since I've been a kid, is to play in your hometown and play for the Canucks, but right now the main focus is going down to L.A. and trying to make the most of that."

Lucic, who was traded to the Kings by the Boston Bruins on June 26, will make $6.5 million this season (with an NHL salary-cap charge to the Kings of $3.5 million, according to war-on-ice.com). Los Angeles forward Anze Kopitar also is entering his final contract year and seemingly would be a priority for the Kings, who are $4.5 million under this season's $71.4 million salary cap, according to the website.

Lucic, 27, said that all can wait till later, with his focus on helping Los Angeles return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing out one year after winning it all in 2014.

"If you look at the roster, we're still a really deep team that has another chance to make a Cup run," Lucic said. "So right now I'm more worried about that than anything else."

Lucic (6-foot-3, 235 pounds) said he expects his British Columbia background to help him with Kings coach Darryl Sutter, who is from Alberta.

"He loves the Western [Canada] boys," Lucic said. "And obviously my style of play kind of fits his style, y'know, the rough and tough Sutter type, so I'm looking forward to playing for him and to see what it's like to play for a different coach."

Road trips also will be different for Lucic, who will first play at Vancouver on Dec. 28 and later at Boston on Feb. 9.

"I'm interested to see what's it's going to be like, not just in Vancouver, just around the League," Lucic told the "Bro Jake Show." "To see what kind of road presence the Kings have, because being an Original Six team, we get a lot of Bruins fans no matter where we are. So I'm interested to see what it's going to be like in Vancouver and everywhere else."

Lucic, who had 18 goals and 26 assists in 81 games for Boston last season, was traded to Los Angeles for goalie Martin Jones, defenseman prospect Colin Miller, and the 13th pick in the 2015 NHL Draft (defenseman Jakub Zboril).
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Here's another article about the same topic.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/milan-lucic-dreams-of-playing-for-canucks--after-la-kings-cup-run-052624228.html

You can hear the interview itself here:

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040-i-1410/lucic-kings-are-still-cup-contenders-1.353493

Unless either side changes their tune within the next ten months, I think we'll be seeing Milan Lucic in a Canucks uniform next July.

"I love Italian food."

"I love spaghetti."



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Rex Banner

Rex Banner

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Aug 22, 2013
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Free asset. Take it and run.

Lucic - Horvat - Virtanen
That's a heavy line to play against.
 
Baby Pettersson

Baby Pettersson

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I'll take it. I still regard him as a very special player. Not many guys like him in the league. Just keep his contract reasonable and I'm happy!
 
Pip

Pip

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I would take him on a reasonable contract but I very much doubt that's possible. I don't want to offer him a long term contract as he'll likely decline heavily over the next few years.

Very scared that this will be a mistake

Also screw Bro Jake he's awful
 

dave babych returns

Registered User
Dec 2, 2011
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Not in favour of signing Lucic. I guess if he wants to come here and throw gloved punches and score the odd goal they can put his face on marketing materials after the Sedins retire.
 
Proto

Proto

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Jan 30, 2010
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Based on previous signings Benning has made, this has the potential to build on that and be his crowning achievement in legacy building in Vancouver -- the signing people are talking about for years and years after he's gone...
 
tantalum

tantalum

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To sum up:

-Lucic might hit free agency
-Like every other kid who follows or plays hockey he dreamed of playing for his hometown/favourite team. Shockingly such a thing gets mentioned when talking to that hometown radio station!

-concentrating on LA stuff. Excited to play for Sutter. Really likes the LA roster. Excited to be a King.


Nothing in that article (didn't listen to interview) really suggests that this is some sort of done deal. IF he has a good year and likes LA he'll likely re-sign with the Kings and if not he'll have several strong UFA offers. He may take a bit of a hometown discount but either way the deal he gets is likely to be huge. As stated above...a deal we are likely to talk about for years.
 
Proto

Proto

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Jan 30, 2010
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tantalum said:
To sum up:

-Lucic might hit free agency
-Like every other kid who follows or plays hockey he dreamed of playing for his hometown/favourite team. Shockingly such a thing gets mentioned when talking to that hometown radio station!

-concentrating on LA stuff. Excited to play for Sutter. Really likes the LA roster. Excited to be a King.


Nothing in that article (didn't listen to interview) really suggests that this is some sort of done deal. IF he has a good year and likes LA he'll likely re-sign with the Kings and if not he'll have several strong UFA offers. He may take a bit of a hometown discount but either way the deal he gets is likely to be huge. As stated above...a deal we are likely to talk about for years.
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I don't think the Kings will have the capspace to afford the 7.5m a year Lucic is going to get. They have to give Kopitar his 9m+ and they have all those other ugly contracts, plus whatever cap penalty they're inevitably given for their embarrassing Mike Richards maneuver.
 
DL44

DL44

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If he feels he needs to feel even more resentment towards his hometown of Vancouver, all he has to do is sign here for market value and term.. then wait 20 gms...
 
tantalum

tantalum

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Proto said:
I don't think the Kings will have the capspace to afford the 7.5m a year Lucic is going to get. They have to give Kopitar his 9m+ and they have all those other ugly contracts, plus whatever cap penalty they're inevitably given for their embarrassing Mike Richards maneuver.
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They aren't in that bad of a cap situation or at least so bad they can't make things work through trades and what not if Lucic is a good fit. That's really what things depend on. How good of a fit is Lucic and can they move the Brown's and Gaborik's of the roster if he proves to be a better fit. And honestly at this time they have $22-25 mil of cap space for next season ($51 in used cap right now I believe). Kopitar, Lucic, Lewis, Ehrhoff, McBain, McNabb and Enroth are the only free agents. I.e. two big signings and scraps. They have the room. Kopitar at $9 and Lucic at $7.5 still leaves them with $7.5 mil to spend under a $75 mil cap. And the need for 5 players that can be replaced for ~$1 mil a piece. The Richards would put a cramp in that and might cause some body movement but if Lucic is a good fit for them they'll try very hard to sign him and juggle things elsewhere.


Mike Richards....everyone is concentrating on the drug portion of things. I don't think that was the issue that led to termination. It was the failure to report the arrest that was the issue. I believe that is why the contract was terminated. We'll see what happens with arbitration but I certainly don't think it is embarassing of the Kings or anything.
 
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Love

Love

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It would be exciting, that's for sure. Not sure if it's the "right" move tho.

We have a huge amount of options next summer. We could have over $15mil in cap space, but of course we may re-sign some of those guys.
 
coastal_nuck

coastal_nuck

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Jun 28, 2006
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Hard to say no to Lucic - he is the power forward that we do not have. However, it has to be at a good cap hit AND term. I wouldn't sign him for anything over 5 years at 6.5M.
 
Love

Love

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Feb 29, 2012
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Clear Cut said:
Bring on Lucic, Seabrook, and a top 5 pick to complete the rebuild.
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Ask and you shall receive:

Sign Seabrook and Lucic both @7mil/year, draft Chychrun. Next season:

Sedin-Sedin-Burrows
Lucic-Horvat-Virtanen
Baertschi-Sutter-Hansen
Kenins-Vey-Dorsett

Edler-Tanev
Chychrun-Seabrook
Sbisa-Corrado

Miller
Markstrom
 

MS

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Mar 18, 2002
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Gross.

In terms of actual on-ice impact, he's probably a $3 million player at this point. But he'll get 8 years/$64 million or something stupid because scrums.

And is probably the least likeable player in the NHL. It'll be like trying to cheer for Messier all over again.
 

dave babych returns

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Dec 2, 2011
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beauchamp said:
Unless the Canucks get him as a rental during next season, it can't be for 8 years.

PS: Another possibility is obtaining his rights after the end of the season before July 1st.
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No, he has to be on the reserve list as of the trade deadline.

Basically if LA crashes and burns during the season and moves him before the trade deadline, then the team acquiring him can offer 8 years. Otherwise it'd only be LA.
 
Josepho

Josepho

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I'd be okay with nothing more than 5/6 years at 6.5 million per. But something we know about Benning, is that when he targets someone, he's going to get him (which usually isn't a good thing).

I have to admit having him and Miller on the same team would be hilarious.
 
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