Milan Lucic… The Oilers have quite the situation on their hands right now and part of that is on the player, part of it is on the coach, part if it is on the GM, and part of it is on the fanbase. I always knew that Edmonton could be a volatile market for players and perhaps I’m being naive but over the past 12 months was the first time I heard of a player’s family getting harassed. It has to have happened before then though.
These sort of harassment stories start leaking out, be they regarding Lucic’s family or McDavid’s, and folks still wonder why players won’t come to Edmonton via free agency unless the Oilers completely overpay.
Can you blame Milan Lucic for going to Peter Chiarelli and saying to him that he’d be willing to work with the team IF they felt a move out of Edmonton was the best course of action for the organization and the player? For a person like Lucic to go into the office of a man who’s been his boss for the majority of his career and a man who stepped up to sign him to a long-term deal, that’s probably one of the hardest things he’s had to do. I’d say that’s a pretty honorable thing to do if you ask me.
And NO it’s not quitting on the team. If you’re suggesting that I’d argue that you’re not fully on board with Milan Lucic being a member of the Edmonton Oilers and/or you’re still reeling from the Taylor Hall trade. Either way, feel free to move on.
Personally, if the Oilers can find a way to keep Milan Lucic and help whatever may or may not be happening off of the ice, that’d be the best way to go about things for me.
I’m not a huge supporter of the idea that trading him out for another bad contract is going to help the Oilers in their chances of making the playoffs next year. Milan Lucic plays a major role on the Oilers team and what message does that send to the rest of the roster if they trade him after having a bad 4 months? Mind you they did trade Eberle after a poor season but I think that had more to do with Eberle not buying into McLellan’s systems.
I do not believe that trading Lucic with a “sweetener” in order for another team to take the entire contract off their hands is a good idea either. Not only does that dig the team into a bigger hole long-term development-wise but there’s no guarantee that the Oilers will find a player in free agency that will do better than Lucic’s average of 42pts a year since joining the club.
Some will say that Pat Maroon would be a perfect replacement and that was suggested on Oilers Now yesterday. Stauffer immediately scoffed and said something to the effect that Maroon doesn’t scare anybody whereas Milan just being on the team is a deterrent for the “rats” on the other team.
Some might say David Perron or James Neal but I’m here to say that they’re not signing in Edmonton for less than what Milan Lucic made and they’re the same age. So not only would the Oilers be overpaying those players, they’d be giving them NMCs and term up to 6/7 years IF they’d be willing to sign.
Look, you could say Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, JVR, or Thomas Vanek. It doesn’t matter if none of them want to come to Edmonton after what’s happening with Lucic here. So you trade him and none of them want to sign, what then? You’ve got that cap room and Darnell Nurse, Ryan Strome, and the rest of the RFAs are licking their chops now. But you’re down a top-6 winger, again!
Speaking of Milan being a top-6 winger, it’s up for debate at the moment. I had no problems with him playing on the 3rd line near the end of last season as the opposition wasn’t as difficult. If that’s where he helps the team the most, so be it. Phil Kessel has spent time on the Pens 3rd line in the past. I believe David Backes, Andrew Ladd, and Kyle Okposo have as well. It’s not the end of the world if he plays there.
In 16/17, Milan Lucic had excellent fancies with Connor McDavid but in 17/18 he had better fancies with RNH (hard to believe) but in both years, he was best served away from Leon Draisaitl. So with Nuge now on Connor’s LW and the numbers telling us that McLellan should avoid playing Lucic and Draisaitl together, that leaves only the 3rd line for him apparently.
That’s not to say that things couldn’t change next season. Maybe in 18/19 Leon will be the best centre that Milan plays with IF he’s an Oiler. I just found that when Lucic played with Puljujarvi and Strome, it was a very disruptive line and maybe that’s on Jesse and Milan’s forechecking less than Strome’s work at centre. Maybe it was the 3rd pairing defensemen they were lined up across from but whatever it was, it worked between the three of them.
Anyways, the Oilers have a top-6 winger right now. If there’s a way to keep him and keep him happy (on and off the ice), the Oilers should do it.
Jason Gregor had a helluva rant on his show yesterday that I thought summed up my feelings perfectly. Take a listen to it below. The rant starts around 13:15.
Enjoy!
TRADE RUMORS/PROPOSALS
A caller named “Travis” called into Oilers Now yesterday and offered the following proposal and I’d love to know what you think about it because I dig it.
To Buffalo: Jacob Trouba
To Winnipeg: Oscar Klefbom
To Edmonton Rasmus Ristolainen
I’ve come to the point to where the only thing that Oscar Klefbom has going for him right now is his contract. He doesn’t produce points nor is he the best possession positive player. He’s hurt a lot and isn’t very mobile.
The Jets could use a LHD to replace Enstrom, for some reason the Sabres are souring on Ristolainen (I’m not sure if that’s Jack Eichel talking or what), and a Sabres top pairing of Dahlin and Trouba wouldn’t be too bad. Although I think they should go after Shea Weber to be Dahlin’s partner, that’s just me.
I want the Oilers top PP dman to be one that actually produces on the PP. One that is actually a threat and there are a couple of defensemen in the league that always do well versus Edmonton, Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov. Or at least they had great seasons against the Oilers last year. Either of those two players would be outstanding additions to Edmonton’s back end. They shoot, their big, mobile, and they’re mean MF’ers.
CAROLINA
Stauffer had Tripp Tracy (Carolina’s television analyst) on his show yesterday and they were discussing what the Hurricanes problems where and Tracy said that Carolina was looking to add physicality to their team. He also talked about times when the team wasn’t playing the right way and specifically tossed out Jeff Skinner’s name. That got Stauffer’s attention and he hummed in agreement. So I guess we can safely assume that Skinner has got some Eberle-like tendencies. They also said that Skinner has been inconsistent in his goal scoring.
Justin Faulk’s name came up and Tracy said that Faulk has let him down on the defensive side of the puck and that he’s got a lot more to give. Tracy also noted that Faulk has lost some quickness due to the addition of more muscle mass.
“Would there be an appetite to change the makeup and add a different ingredient to the organization? Because to me they lacked a bit of physical competitiveness.” is what Stauffer asked Tripp Tracy at one point and Tracy’s response was,
“I literally couldn’t agree more.”
Tracy also went on to say that he thought the culture has quite a bit to be desired and the biggest reasons for that were,
- “Guys not playing the right way all the time. With a team-first mindset. Jeff Skinner’s a classic example of that.”
- “Being too perimeter based.”
I don’t watch the Hurricanes ever. I think they’re pretty boring to watch and therefore not worth my time unless they’re playing the Oilers. That said, Tracy mentioned that the ‘Canes new coach Rod Brind’Amour will demand they play the right way and that softens my stance a bit with regards to the Hurricanes being a destination for Milan Lucic.
Tom Dundon, it’s been said, is very much into the analytics and will rely on them and while Lucic doesn’t have “bad” possession numbers, they’re above water, for the most part, but he doesn’t have amazing ones either.
But maybe it wouldn’t be Lucic going to Carolina, maybe it’d be Zack Kassian. Maybe it’d be Jujhar Khaira or Darnell Nurse. Who knows?
What I will say to end this off is that IF this Lucic situation was a fabrication or a falsity made up by the media, the agents would be all over it. Lucic’s agent is local but he’s not the kind of agent that goes around stirring the pot either. The fact that we haven’t heard anything from the player, the agent or the GM says something.
I’d like to see him stay but if it’s not a fit for his family after 2 years, I’d understand.
