Player Discussion Milan Lucic

[Soundwave]

I dunno if I'd do it, but if the contract is such a freak out type thing, you could maybe look at moving him back to LA for Gaborik.

Gaborik is a bad contract too, but something we could probably bury or buy out in a season or two.

He and his family liked it in LA so I think they'd be willing to waive.

Not saying I would do this though, just throwing it out as an option though.

I think Lucic is going to help us down the stretch and in the playoffs if we make it (looking pretty good right now).

 

[McTedi]

Sure we should. Fayne, Pouliot are already limiting what Chia can do. Lucic underperforming compounds this.

Lucic is the least of this teams worries, Nuge and Ebs are turning this team into a one line threat plus the large contracts to boot. We have seen glimpses of what Lucic can bring when he turns it on and his offensive numbers for the most part are on par with previous seasons. I also would like a more consistent effort and more grit from the big man, maybe there is more to come...we will see in the playoffs

 

[Raoul Duke]

You are implying Lucic and his play will never improve beyond what it has been so far this season so therefore the contract is an albatross.

A bit early for that position...dont you think?

Just going off what I've seen. Of course he could improve. I've never said different.
The contract was supposed to be immediate help, a possible problem later. It's not good now, if he loses a single step...
It's a concern.
He could definitely still justify the contract as early as this year's playoffs.
I hope that's the case.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Lucic is the least of this teams worries, Nuge and Ebs are turning this team into a one line threat plus the large contracts to boot. We have seen glimpses of what Lucic can bring when he turns it on and his offensive numbers for the most part are on par with previous seasons. I also would like a more consistent effort and more grit from the big man, maybe there is more to come...we will see in the playoffs

RNH and Eberle are similar concerns. Agree with you there.

 

[McFlyingV]

He's looked noticeably faster to me the last 5-10 games. Seems to be moving his feet more rather than getting caught flat footed which is when his speed looks like a noticeable issue. When he gets going his skating is fine, its when he has to start from a standstill that it looks bad. Its actually quite similar to how Draisaitl's skating looked bad as a rookie because he'd often get caught not moving his feet (not comparing the two's actual skating, Drai is a much better skater).

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

The real test will be next year to see if he takes his off season seriously and adjusts to the moving here. I'll give him the 1 year break since Sekera seemed improve a lot this season for us.


If he wants to play with McDavid he needs to do the work necessary to get in shape enough to keep up. If Maroon could do it, so can he.

 

[guymez]

Just going off what I've seen. Of course he could improve. I've never said different.
The contract was supposed to be immediate help, a possible problem later. It's not good now, if he loses a single step...
It's a concern.
He could definitely still justify the contract as early as this year's playoffs.
I hope that's the case.

Fair enough.

BTW...I completely agree with the bolded.

 

[McBigYak]

The real test will be next year to see if he takes his off season seriously and adjusts to the moving here. I'll give him the 1 year break since Sekera seemed improve a lot this season for us.


If he wants to play with McDavid he needs to do the work necessary to get in shape enough to keep up. If Maroon could do it, so can he.

Lucic is in shape. Getting in shape doesn't all of a sudden turn you in to a good skater. Lucic is just a bad skater.

Maroons stride and technique was there, which is why shedding a few pounds helped.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

Shedding a few pounds while retaining explosive strength would definitely help improve one's skating. It's never too late to make improvements.

 

[MessierII]

Lucic has more 5 on 5 goals than Taylor Hall this year.

 

[Asiaoil]

Fun fact - Lucic has 3 goals in his last 16 games. Taylor Hall has..........wait for it......3 goals in his last 16 games.

Looch has been disappointing but we don't have a center for him as RNH has chemistry with no one apparently. I'll give him a full year to settle in and be used properly like Sekera before getting too unhappy.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Fun fact - Lucic has 3 goals in his last 16 games. Taylor Hall has..........wait for it......3 goals in his last 16 games.

Looch has been disappointing but we don't have a center for him as RNH has chemistry with no one apparently. I'll give him a full year to settle in and be used properly like Sekera before getting too unhappy.

How many points? How many opportunities created?

 

[Asiaoil]

How many points? How many opportunities created?

Hall is 14-27-41 with 1.76 ESP/60 and 5.43 PPP/60 and 51.9% GF%
Cammaleri is 10-20-30
NJD top 6 LW = 24-47-71

Lucic is 13-21-34 with 1.02 ESP/60 and 6.39 PPP/60 and 50% GF%
Maroon is 20-11-31
EDM top 6 LW = 33-32-65

EDM top 6 LW score more but NJD top 6 LW have more assists and GF% pretty close - call it square. But EDM top 6 light years better than NJD wrt intangibles (size, physicality, leadership). Our LW have had issues this year - primarily Looch's ES scoring when tied to RNH and Cags - but there is really not much evidence that we lost signficant offense from LW by trading Hall. Benefits associated with addition of Larsson in a much more important position (RHD) are obviously massive. Lost the trade from a very narrow perspective (ignore getting Looch for nothing but money as Hall replacement and NJD only being able to replace Larsson with Lovejoy) but the team is much better because of it.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

Hall is 14-27-41 with 1.76 ESP/60 and 5.43 PPP/60 and 51.9% GF%
Cammaleri is 10-20-30
NJD top 6 LW = 24-47-71

Lucic is 13-21-34 with 1.02 ESP/60 and 6.39 PPP/60 and 50% GF%
Maroon is 20-11-31
EDM top 6 LW = 33-32-65

EDM top 6 LW score more but NJD top 6 LW have more assists and GF% pretty close - call it square. But EDM top 6 light years better than NJD wrt intangibles (size, physicality, leadership). Our LW have had issues this year - primarily Looch's ES scoring when tied to RNH and Cags - but there is really not much evidence that we lost signficant offense from LW by trading Hall. Benefits associated with addition of Larsson in a much more important position (RHD) are obviously massive. Lost the trade from a very narrow perspective (ignore getting Looch for nothing but money as Hall replacement and NJD only being able to replace Larsson with Lovejoy) but the team is much better because of it.

1. You have to consider linemates. Yakupov looked productive with McDavid.
2. ES production is much more valuable than PP production. PP production is a function of how the unit is run. You could probably replace Lucic completely with Maroon on the PP.

 

[Asiaoil]

1. You have to consider linemates. Yakupov looked productive with McDavid.
2. ES production is much more valuable than PP production. PP production is a function of how the unit is run. You could probably replace Lucic completely with Maroon on the PP.

ES production tells you more about a player's ability to contribute in a "fair" (5x5) fight - but PP production matters and some guys are simply better.

Lucic is 6.39 PPP/60 this season in 160 min
Maroon is 2.0 PPP/60 this season in 120 min

So no you could not just "replace Lucic completely with Maroon on the PP". Looch has been very good on the PP this season - Maroon hasn't. Looch is historically about 2.0 ESP/60 guy but he's struggled some this year on a new team. I think he needs a different center than RNH on the 2nd line to help him get opportunities (passes, rebounds) down low since his shooting percentage has really fallen this season. RNH has has been a drag on everyone this season and Cags has been a black hole of offense. Looch has not been good at ES this season but his centers have not helped at all. He's like a big center in basketball. Get the big man the biscuit down low or he's a waste.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

ES production tells you more about a player's ability to contribute in a "fair" (5x5) fight - but PP production matters and some guys are simply better.

Lucic is 6.39 PPP/60 this season in 160 min
Maroon is 2.0 PPP/60 this season in 120 min

So no you could not just "replace Lucic completely with Maroon on the PP". Looch has been very good on the PP this season - Maroon hasn't. Looch is historically about 2.0 ESP/60 guy but he's struggled some this year on a new team. I think he needs a different center than RNH on the 2nd line to help him get opportunities (passes, rebounds) down low since his shooting percentage has really fallen this season. RNH has has been a drag on everyone this season and Cags has been a black hole of offense. Looch has not been good at ES this season but his centers have not helped at all. He's like a big center in basketball. Get the big man the biscuit down low or he's a waste.

I think you could also tie it into the fact that he has no one to cycle with. In LA he had Carter, in Boston he had Horton or Iginla.

I think getting him with Draisaitl is a must at this point.

We know Draisaitl and Lucic work together, we know Eberle and McDavid don't. Thus Lucic-Draisaitl-Eberle should be one line, that leaves you with Maroon-McDavid-RNH as the other. No over thinking required.

 

[alphahelix]

I think you could also tie it into the fact that he has no one to cycle with. In LA he had Carter, in Boston he had Horton or Iginla.

I think getting him with Draisaitl is a must at this point.

We know Draisaitl and Lucic work together, we know Eberle and McDavid don't. Thus Lucic-Draisaitl-Eberle should be one line, that leaves you with Maroon-McDavid-RNH as the other. No over thinking required.

I agree that RNH should be tried on McDavid's wing. It could be the missing piece. The only thing that hasn't been tried, and I can see lots of reasons why it might actually work. The lines look solid and balanced. RNH has like 1 point less than Maroon and 4 points less than Lucic with 0 powerplay time and 0 time spent with McDavid.

He could catch fire.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I agree that RNH should be tried on McDavid's wing. It could be the missing piece. The only thing that hasn't been tried, and I can see lots of reasons why it might actually work. The lines look solid and balanced. RNH has like 1 point less than Maroon and 4 points less than Lucic with 0 powerplay time and 0 time spent with McDavid.

He could catch fire.

So who do you suggest our #2 RW is: Caggulia or Slepyshev?

Because that's the depth we're dealing with on the right if Nuge goes on the wing.

 

[cbzblaze]

I think you could also tie it into the fact that he has no one to cycle with. In LA he had Carter, in Boston he had Horton or Iginla.

I think getting him with Draisaitl is a must at this point.

We know Draisaitl and Lucic work together, we know Eberle and McDavid don't. Thus Lucic-Draisaitl-Eberle should be one line, that leaves you with Maroon-McDavid-RNH as the other. No over thinking required.

This thinking has made sense for a very long time now. McD and Drai playing together ARE NOT a long term solution if this team wants to win a cup. The longer their together the more time is being wasted at finding the balanced scoring lineup you need to do well in the playoffs. Their our 2 best creative players who elevate other players game. They don't need each other to be successful.

My biggest criticism with TM's coaching this year - He always goes out of his way to get McD's line going. What he should be doing is everything possible to get the 2nd line going. McDavid could play with Khaira and Kassian and still have relatively good success. At the very least, oposing coaches would have to think about who to put their shutdown line against.

Get Lucic going by playing him with people he'd most likely succeed with. Lucic defers the puck to his line mates in the neutral zone. Drai has to be there as he likes to have the puck. Nuge never wants the puck and when he gets it, it's a soft dump in the corner which he'll never recover or a soft wrister on net which I could probably stop.

Come playoffs, we're not going anywhere with only 1 line going.

 

[Fourier]

ES production tells you more about a player's ability to contribute in a "fair" (5x5) fight - but PP production matters and some guys are simply better.

Lucic is 6.39 PPP/60 this season in 160 min
Maroon is 2.0 PPP/60 this season in 120 min

So no you could not just "replace Lucic completely with Maroon on the PP". Looch has been very good on the PP this season - Maroon hasn't. Looch is historically about 2.0 ESP/60 guy but he's struggled some this year on a new team. I think he needs a different center than RNH on the 2nd line to help him get opportunities (passes, rebounds) down low since his shooting percentage has really fallen this season. RNH has has been a drag on everyone this season and Cags has been a black hole of offense. Looch has not been good at ES this season but his centers have not helped at all. He's like a big center in basketball. Get the big man the biscuit down low or he's a waste.

At ES here are the numbers for the following line combinations:

Lucic - McDavid-Eberle ----- 1.11 g/60 2.75 pt/60 (217min)
Lucic - RNH -Eberle -------.96 g/60 2.88 pt/60 (125min)
Lucic- McDavid-Draisaitl ----2.7g/60 5.4pt/60 (66min)
Lucic-McDavid-Puljujarvi----4.58g/60 10.08pt/60 (66 min)

The last two are obviously smaller sample size ( really they are all smaller sample sizes), but it is interesting how successful that latter combination was in it's short time together.

 

[DasKaiser]

He's looked noticeably faster to me the last 5-10 games. Seems to be moving his feet more rather than getting caught flat footed which is when his speed looks like a noticeable issue. When he gets going his skating is fine, its when he has to start from a standstill that it looks bad. Its actually quite similar to how Draisaitl's skating looked bad as a rookie because he'd often get caught not moving his feet (not comparing the two's actual skating, Drai is a much better skater).

Hope so, perhaps working with their skating coach will work wonders. Let's hope!

 

[FlameChampion]

I think with Lucic hes had a bit of a tough year. It has been widely speculated that hes helped out significantly in the dressing room and with the mental make up of this team (which was severely lacking).

I think we have to see how he does in the playoffs this year and see how he comes out next year. Sometimes it just takes players a year to get comfortable in their environment. See Sekera .

 

[MessierII]

Our best player of late. This is a guy who knows what big games are.

 

[oobga]

Some good showings of speed lately. He's definitely come out of hibernation for this late push

 

[Del Preston]

10 points in the last 13 games. He's looked really good the last month and a half.