Breaking News: Oilers sign Lucic

There we go! It’s finally happened: Milan Lucic is an Edmonton Oiler. One of the worst kept secrets in the NHL was that the Oilers were heavily interested in the heavy power forward Milan Lucic.

As expected, it’s a big deal in both terms of cap hit and length: six million per year, for seven years. The Edmonton Oilers make another splash in the Free Agent Market.

Lucic played 81 games scored 20 goals, 35 assists and 55 points total last season with the Los Angeles Kings. Lucic, 28 years old, was famously traded to Los Angeles from Boston last June for a first round pick, goaltender Martin Jones and prospect Colin Miller.

Twitter Reactions

Lucic is an Edmonton Oiler

— Kris (@WildcardKH) July 1, 2016

Say what you want about $$$ and term – I get that – but the Oilers become a much more effective team with Milan Lucic. I love the addition.

— Ryan M.D. (@RGK_61) July 1, 2016

Milan Lucic has signed with the Edmonton Oilers, source confirms

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 1, 2016

#Oilers get their guy. Looch to Edmonton. https://t.co/QndRstVvCF

— Alex Thomas (@AlexThomasHWP) July 1, 2016

Next up, Tim Thomas.

— Ken Holland (@FakeOilersGM) July 1, 2016

https://twitter.com/RealKyper/status/748910903349747712

My Take

Look: there’s no way beating around the bush here: it has potential to be a very ugly contract by the time Lucic is in his early 30s. You could say that Taylor Hall was traded to make room for Milan Lucic.

Milan Lucic is no Taylor Hall and he will never be. Lucic does not drive the line and the play that Taylor Hall would.

Hall severely outproduces Lucic and is far more talented.

The Oilers lost that trade with Adam Larsson.

There are some good posts here at The Oilers Rig: WheatnOil take on how the franchise failed Hall and Megan’s take on losing her favorite Oiler.

However, I am going to look at the silver lining that Milan Lucic brings to the Edmonton Oilers. Peter Chiarelli firmly addresses a need in a controversial fashion: he filled the first line Left Wing spot with the addition of Lucic. I definitely warmed on the idea of Lucic compared to my prior post earlier in the month (where I also said the Oilers could not trade Hall. Whoops!)

Lucic is a player that fans have died to acquire for the Edmonton Oilers. Make no mistake: Milan Lucic is not a David Clarkson contract. He’s a far more sure product. He’s a nasty power forward. There’s only one Milan Lucic in the NHL. This is a player that teams have tried drafting prospects for the sake of getting the next Lucic.

He is today’s definition of the Power Forward in the NHL. Sure, the arguments are made about his production being similar to Benoit Pouliot. However, it’s the intangibles that will be the debate: is Lucic worth the extra money and term for the physical and nasty edge that he brings to the team?

Verdict

I like this signing. This is the biggest UFA signing in the history of the Edmonton Oilers. This is also a sign of changing times: UFAs will want to come to the Edmonton Oilers with the allure of Connor McDavid and the shiny new arena set in downtown.

Absolutely stinks losing Taylor Hall, but time moves forward. While Lucic is no Taylor Hall and there are some very legitimate concerns of his play falling off a cliff in a few years, I feel fans will love the way he plays the game. Lucic is a blue collar player that works hard, plays with that edge that has been lacking for years in the Oilers top six.

I feel he will make some fans in a quick fashion. Just give him a chance.