St Louis Blues Sign Milan Lucic To PTO

The St. Louis Blues have signed Milan Lucic to a professional tryout. For anyone who doesn’t know, a professional tryout (or PTO) is when an NHL team invites a player to participate in training camp and the preseason. If they perform well, they may earn a contract. Lucic hasn’t played since the 2023-2024 season after dealing with some off-the-ice issues. Now at 37 years old, he will try to earn his way back into the league with the St. Louis Blues. 

Milan Lucic Has Boston Connections

Lucic played with the Boston Bruins two different times throughout his NHL career. The first instance was from 2007-2015, and then again in 2023-2024, for just four games, before he was put on leave. Technically, he has played under Jim Montgomery before, but it was less than a five-game sample size. Signing with the Blues could give him a second chance in the league. 

If he does earn a contract, it will probably be a one-year deal at close to league minimum. Maybe the Blues are looking for more bottom-six forward depth, because otherwise this move doesn’t fit with their “youth first” timeline. The slight connection and familiarity with Montgomery might help Lucic out a bit. 

This Move Isn’t Anything Special

You see moves like this at this time of year all the time in the NHL. Whether it be a veteran player who missed multiple seasons due to an injury or just simply underperformed the year prior. Sometimes professional tryouts work out, and other times these players just come and go. It’s essentially like buying a lottery ticket, but the ticket has a proven track record of winning, but has been in a losing streak lately.

Professional tryouts never hurt the team or the player. If it works out, the team can get a solid player on the cheap, and the player gets a shot at proving to the rest of the league that he can still play. Lucic is in that exact boat.