Milan Lucic Loves Boston But He’ll Have Other Options

Former Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic will never stop loving the city of Boston and will forever cherish his time playing for the Boston Bruins. The 35-year-old unrestricted free agent-to-be won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and still has good friends on the team and in the city.

“Obviously, it’s a special place for me, and it will always be a special place for me,” Lucic told Athletic Insider Pierre LeBrun recently.

However, that doesn’t mean Milan Lucic will automatically sign with the Boston Bruins should they come calling. Lucic and his agent were recently given permission by the Calgary Flames to talk to NHL teams ahead of the July 1 start of free agency. Lucic told LeBrun that choosing his next NHL team in free agency will be about fit and ensuring he has a regular role in the lineup.

But we’ve got what, 10, 11 days to see what happens (before July 1)? We’ll see what happens and then go from there,” Lucic pointed out. “The main thing is fit. What’s my role going to be on a team? How will the coach use me? Who will I play with? All that type of stuff. If all that works out really well, then you’re happy going to the rink, and if you’re happy going to the rink, you’re playing better, and you’re playing at the top of your game.”

On the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast, Sportsnet Insider Elliotte Friedman wondered to co-host Jeff Marek if Lucic could sign with the Anaheim Ducks.

Friedman: “I wonder about the Ducks,” Friedman opined. “I think he still has a place in California, and Jeff, what do we say about the Ducks?

Marek: “They’re young, and they miss Nick Deslauriers?”

Friedman: “That they got pushed around a lot.”

Marek: “Pushed every time they played Arizona, they got pushed around a lot. That one makes a whole lot of sense to me.”

In various conversations over the last month, Boston Hockey Now has also heard that the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils, and Minnesota Wild will all look into Lucic as well.

Still, Boston Bruins fans will long for a Lucic return until it can’t happen anymore.