Was Milan Lucic Worth It?
- Updated: October 12, 2015
Is Milan Lucic A Good Fit?
Very early into the off-season, the Los Angeles Kings acquired Milan Lucic from the Boston Bruins for promising goaltender Martin Jones, prospect Colin Miller, and a first round pick (overall pick 13,) in the 2015 entry draft to play alongside Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik. Now the idea of Milan Lucic sounds fantastic when you look at his previous season numbers, but his style of play does not fit with the Los Angeles Kings.
There always pros and cons with players, and I always like to start with the positives. He can score goals. He was a 30 goal scorer in the 2009-2010 season when the Boston Bruins had won the Stanley Cup, and has an average of 42.75 points in 8 seasons with the Boston Bruins. Those statistics look fantastic, but definitely have to be looked at closer because he has seasons ranging from twenty points, to sixty-two points. Even though only three of his seasons are under thirty points, only two of them are above sixty. He Lucic is a big, heavy player. Measuring in at 6’3, 235 pounds, Lucic is a player that can protect the puck. When he finishes his checks, they’re strong and he is a player that can stick up for other members of his team. He is a heavy force, and a player that you do not want to mess with.
Sadly, that is all that I see for pros on Lucic. With how Lucic plays, he draws a lot of penalties. In just two games, he has 10 PIM that all involve him picking fights with players, one being a match penalty for a complete unnecessary fight with Logan Couture. I hate Logan Couture as much as any Los Angeles Kings fan, but it was very unprofessional to skate across the ice and attack a player from the back just because they got a textbook hip check on you. This also shows how much of a hot head Lucic is. He has a temper and his ego fuels it more than it should. Milan Lucic is being paid an average of $6 million a year, and a cap hit of $3.25 million in the 2015-2016 season. He is not the most expensive player in the world, but for what he has done so far, he hasn’t earned even a $500k contract based off of preseason, as well as the regular season in 2015-2016.
When we look at how Lucic has played so far with the Los Angeles Kings, it is average at best. Lucic has put a big, physical aspect into the Kings game but he hasn’t produced anything more than a single shot on goal, and 10 PIM. For how much we gave away, he needs to step his game, especially since he is coming off a contract at the end of the 2015-2016 season. Martin Jones was a superb up and coming goaltender that I think was a good enough trade get Lucic without throwing in Colin Miller, and the number 13 pick. With the loss of Robyn Regehr in this offseason, Colin Miller would have been a great aspect to add in the Kings even weaker defensive line up now that we have officially lost Slava Voynov.
With as much that we traded Milan Lucic for, I believe that Dean Lombardi could work a deal to get just as much back through another trade. The Kings need defense, and scoring ability. With how little Lucic has been producing, our top line looks like a five on four. If a trade goes down, the lines would obviously need to be rearranged.
Gaborik-Kopitar-Brown
Pearson-Carter-Toffoli
King-Shore- (Player we trade Lucic for)
Lewis-Weal-Nolan
Doughty-Muzzin
Erhoff-(Player we trade Lucic for)
Martinez-Greene
In previous seasons, Dustin Brown has worked very well with Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik, who has a good ability to play the left-wing, which would allow Brown to take the right-wing. If we traded Lucic, we would need to look at a good right-winger that is exceptionally good on the penalty kill, and that would help us fill in the positions that Jarret Stoll held on the PK. We would also be able to make more use out of Jordan Weal, Nick Shore, and potentially with Andy Andreoff since the Los Angeles Kings decided to keep Andreoff and trade away Brian O’Neil. A Lucic trade would also be able to bring in another top defender with size to help fill in the void left by Robyn Regehr. We don’t necessarily need a defender to be as good as Drew Doughty, but a defender that would be solid on the penalty kill to make the team more effective in-depth.
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4 Comments
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KC23
October 12, 2015 at 6:11 pm
Except what we would trade for is a right shot defenseman, not a LW.
Dean
October 13, 2015 at 12:23 pm
Very true! That right shot defender is what the Kings need! As well as a right winger to fill our third line.
ginadblasck
December 15, 2015 at 7:06 pm
After the way Andreoff, Clifford, Nolan played last night, who would want them?
lenadanderson
December 21, 2015 at 10:34 am
After the way Andreoff, Clifford, Nolan played last night, who would want them?