The Boston Bruins will sign Milan Lucic as an unrestricted free agent when he hits the open market on July 1, Rick Dhaliwal and Chris Johnston reported Saturday afternoon.
Lucic, 35, scored seven goals and 19 points in 77 games with the Calgary Flames during the 2022–23 regular season. He was in the final season of the seven-year, $6 million AAV deal he signed with the Edmonton Oilers back in 2016.
The Bruins originally selected Lucic in the second round (No. 50 overall) of the 2006 NHL Draft. The six-foot-three left wing spent the first eight seasons of his National Hockey League career with the Bruins, helping the team to win the Stanley Cup in 2011 and reach the Final again in 2013.
The Flames acquired Lucic and a third-round pick from the Oilers in 2019 in exchange for forward James Neal. Lucic spent four seasons in Calgary, collecting 35 goals and 83 points in 283 games and adding a goal and seven points in 22 playoff contests.
As a player aged 35 or older, Lucic is eligible to receive performance bonuses on his upcoming contract.
The Flames had granted Lucic permission to speak with other teams ahead of the unrestricted free agent market opening on Saturday. Earlier reports from Dhaliwal had connected Lucic with his hometown Vancouver Canucks, who lost to Lucic’s Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
Lucic scored 30 goals with the Bruins in their championship 2010–11 season. The Bruins traded him to the Los Angeles Kings in 2015; after scoring 20 goals in his lone season with the Kings, Lucic signed with the Oilers in 2016 with the desire to play alongside Connor McDavid.
Although Lucic surpassed the 20-goal threshold again in his first season with the Oilers, he quickly declined after that and his contract became thoroughly undesirable for an Oilers team intent on contending. The Flames and Oilers decided to swap their problematic wingers in 2019, with Neal lasting two seasons in Edmonton before being bought out.
Through 1,173 career games over parts of 16 NHL seasons with the Bruins, Kings, Oilers, and Flames, Lucic has collected 233 goals and 584 points. He’s also registered 29 goals and 77 points in 136 playoff games.
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