Player Discussion Milan Lucic V.2.0

Raoul Duke

Registered User
Feb 21, 2010
2,047
585
No one in this league wants to fight Lucic. Last year Lucic set the tone first game. Give McDavid a dirty shot and answer to me.

Honestly I would hate to see the abuse Connor gets every night with out Lucic on this team.

Anyone watch Coaches Corner and see the abuse Crosby is starting to take without Reaves there? Fear is real folks. Meanwhile Crosby is one pace to play every game for the first time in his career. Can’t believe they let Reaves go.

Reaves cost around a million bucks on a one year deal.
Can you see the difference?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aerrol

Aerrol

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Sep 18, 2014
6,555
3,208
Slashes, hooks, hits that’s all hockey. Dirty plays don’t happen.

McDavid has been knee on kneed and slew footed a bunch of times. Maybe no flying elbows but he's taking constant abuse out there, most of it not 'good hockey plays'. Maybe it'd be worse if we were softer (not sure I buy it) but don't pretend like McDavid is going untouched out there.
 

Tobias Kahun

Registered User
Oct 3, 2017
41,649
50,493
Thank the league for guaranteed contracts. Looch can't score anymore but he can bang. What can you do?

It was awesome to see him give smith those punches in the head.
Unfortunate that the officials broke it up, would love to see Lucic rip smith apart.
 

Bryanbryoil

Pray For Ukraine
Sep 13, 2004
85,954
34,073
Or he’s just the toughest guy in the league?

I'd probably put him 2nd behind Reaves but unless they fought we'd never truly now who's #1.

Reaves cost around a million bucks on a one year deal.
Can you see the difference?

Looch is a better player but he is overpaid unless he plays much better than he has this year. I actually wouldn't mind adding Reaves in the offseason and then cut ties with Kassian.
 

Drivesaitl

Time to Drive
Oct 8, 2017
45,295
54,823
Duck hunting
While Lucic is vastly overpaid at this point I do like what he brought in the Flames game and add that if he skated to hits like that more often he would be creating a lot of open ice for himself and linemates. He was bowling people over in the Calgary game and getting all of them. I've always felt a solid hit can be just as important in game play as fighting somebody and serves similar purpose. When you hit somebody so hard their internal organs hurt its hard for that person to approach the rest of the game without any concern over it. Those were punishing body shots. The kind of hits where the opponents are just wondering when the season will be mercifully over.

Lucic hands have returned to him as well. He's making some good plays with the puck again.

I really hate Reaves. But I guess that's the kind of thing that means he probably has some ability to get under the skin if he's hated so much. But in Reaves case it really is a case of having to carry a spot to put him on the ice. You're not going to get much from him and not many good minutes but he's occupying a spot. He's a guy on the roster that is hard to insert into the lineup every game. He's just not close to being a good enough player. Reaves is a dinosaur. Most teams don't utilize goons anymore. Reaves is a far worse hockey player than Georges Laraque was. He just can't play. Vegas can have him.

Having Ryan Reaves in your lineup hurts your team more than the opponent..
 

Aceboogie

Registered User
Aug 25, 2012
32,649
3,896
Canucks just opened up 14 mil in cap space. Please please please please take Lucic Benning. He even just got in a fight and showed some heart for the first time this year! Hes totally turning the corner!
 

Trafalgar Sadge Law

Registered User
Nov 8, 2007
11,476
6,873
Canucks just opened up 14 mil in cap space. Please please please please take Lucic Benning. He even just got in a fight and showed some heart for the first time this year! Hes totally turning the corner!
They can take Russell along with him to help "tutor" that defense.
 

Nevins

Registered User
Jul 12, 2014
2,314
1,602
No one in this league wants to fight Lucic. Last year Lucic set the tone first game. Give McDavid a dirty shot and answer to me.

Honestly I would hate to see the abuse Connor gets every night with out Lucic on this team.

Anyone watch Coaches Corner and see the abuse Crosby is starting to take without Reaves there? Fear is real folks. Meanwhile Crosby is one pace to play every game for the first time in his career. Can’t believe they let Reaves go.
They have Olesiak who can fight well....I think.
 

FlameChampion

Registered User
Jul 13, 2011
13,522
15,050
He seemed like he was actually trying tonight at least. I know people harp on him for being slow. I think he can skate fairly well when he wants too. To me its the rest of his game that bugs me more, poor hands, bad giveaways, zero puck protection, overrated physical presence etc.

The GM should be looking at every possible way to get rid of this contract this offseason and then resign Maroon to a reasonable deal if possible (walk away if terms too long).
 

McAsuno

Registered User
Jul 10, 2013
26,458
32,748
Edmonton
He seemed like he was actually trying tonight at least. I know people harp on him for being slow. I think he can skate fairly well when he wants too. To me its the rest of his game that bugs me more, poor hands, bad giveaways, zero puck protection, overrated physical presence etc.

The GM should be looking at every possible way to get rid of this contract this offseason.

The GM should also get his candy ass booted too tbh.
 

Soundwave

Registered User
Mar 1, 2007
72,141
27,826
My issue with him is not even his speed. His hands, passing, decision making is all horrendous. That's the big problem. The puck dies on his stick and his shot is not great either unless he has 2 days to wind up.

Losing 15-20 pounds is not gonna change that. I wonder if his back disease is starting to kick in.
 

Bryanbryoil

Pray For Ukraine
Sep 13, 2004
85,954
34,073
Looch, do the right thing. Work hard on your game, lose weight, improve your hand/eye, stickhandling and skating. If that is too much to ask of you due to physical reasons then its time to start thinking about life outside of hockey. Chia and the Oilers gave you what is likely a retirement contract, do not screw them over for doing so, tell them thank you and that you'll be on your way if you are unable to physically improve on the above areas due to health issues.
 

Soundwave

Registered User
Mar 1, 2007
72,141
27,826
I really don't think you can significantly improve things like puck handling and hand/eye at age 30.

You're basically a written book by that point that's going to decline as the years go on.

You either improve that stuff in your late teens/early 20s or forget about it. I can't really think of any player that changed their game from a grind/physical game into a skill based game at age 30+ over the course of one summer.
 
Last edited:

PaPaDee

5-14-6-1
Sep 21, 2005
13,335
2,093
Saskazoo
What a horrid season. I do think he’ll bounce back a bit, but he’s basically a third liner at best going forward.
 

oobga

Tier 2 Fan
Aug 1, 2003
22,936
17,813
Get to training Looch, ya bum. And not with MMA fighters and football players this time please. Beg Gary Roberts to take you in and throw some cash at Oates for stick skills work.
 

PaPaDee

5-14-6-1
Sep 21, 2005
13,335
2,093
Saskazoo
Get to training Looch, ya bum. And not with MMA fighters and football players this time please. Beg Gary Roberts to take you in and throw some cash at Oates for stick skills work.

Sad thing is Lucic said this was the best shape he’d been in, in a long time at the beginning of the year.
 

oobga

Tier 2 Fan
Aug 1, 2003
22,936
17,813
Sad thing is Lucic said this was the best shape he’d been in, in a long time at the beginning of the year.

Yeah I bet he was in awesome shape, just not the ideal hockey player shape for the current state of the league. He said recently he knows he needs to lose 10+ lbs now. He clearly lost the plot coming to last camp at 235 thinking he did an awesome job last summer. Hopefully he gets in now.
 

HenrikW

Registered User
Feb 21, 2018
654
503
Lucic has taken tons of heat for his play this season, by now I think most people has forgotten that he actually started out this season very well. Up until the christmas break Lucic had 26 points in 36 games with 13.2% shooting %, on pace for a 59 point season and pretty much everything we could hope to have from his contract. Most of this time was spent as RNH's winger so the notion that his production was a product of McDavid is certainly inaccurate.

Oilers were 17-17-2 and without a doubt still in the running for a playoff spot.

Exactly what caused the slump that wrecked his confidence completely this season is hard to tell. One thing is clear, after the christmas break he was a completely different player entirely. In his last 46 games his boxscore is 1-7-8. He has 79 shots and a shooting % of 1.3

By now his good start is pretty much lost on fans, on media and on himself. People are saying he is done and that his contract is horrible. That he's a useless slug and that we're doomed with him on a top #6 LW spot. That he is USELESS on the PP and shouldn't even be given the consideration.

There's obviously a risk his slump continues into next season but to say that he's a hopeless case can't be true. He was a player for half of last season. I think none more then Lucic wants to him to find his game again and the fanbase is too quick to give up hope on the guy.

His problem isn't his skill or toolset. It's not his style that's the biggest problem. He suffers from the Edmonton Syndrome. The utter lack of confidence crippling his play. If he can find his way he can be a 50p scorer on Draisaitl's wing.

For a guy with a similar base physique as Lucic, 10 lbs is a noticable difference, not in power but in stamina. While I think the weight problem is overstated, I believe there is some merit to Lucic getting a little bit lighter over the summer. It's a 82 game season and I'd hate to see him play for only 36 games once again
 
Last edited:

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->