Milan Lucic Returns To Bruins: ‘It’s A Place I Consider Home’

After years of rumors and Boston Bruins fans pining for him to return to the team he began his career with and won the 2011 Stanley Cup, Milan Lucic is a Boston Bruin again. Per numerous reports, the Bruins signed Lucic to a one-year, $1 million contract laden with bonuses.

“It’s an exciting moment for me and my family, and you know what? It just feels right,” Lucic told the TSN Insiders on the TSN Free Agent Frenzy Show Saturday afternoon. “It’s where I had my most success and where I consider home. I’m psyched to be going back. When the opportunity came, it was something that I couldn’t refuse. As I said, it’s really exciting for me, and it’s really exciting for my family. It’s been eight years since I’ve been a Bruin, and grown up a lot. I think about how my kids are older now, and now they can remember me as a Bruin.”

Boston Bruins general manager was equally excited to have a player back that he never wanted to trade in 2015 as one of the first moves he made as general manager of the Bruins.

“When I think back then, I had to have a flak jacket and a helmet on with some of those decisions I had to make then. They weren’t popular; they weren’t fun. They weren’t something I wanted to do. We look back then; with ‘March’ [Brad Marchand] coming on, there were going to be six guys with long-term deals, and we just made a really hard decision. One of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made as a GM, and it was early on. Again, in a perfect world, he never would’ve left. I’m just grateful to bring him back.”

Milan Lucic, 35, was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the second round (50th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He began his NHL career with the Bruins in the 2007-08 season. He became an instant fan favorite thanks to his rugged style that fit in with the ‘Big Bad Bruins’ style the organization was trying to reimplement into their culture at the time. In his fourth season with the Bruins, though, Lucic was emerging into one of the game’s best power forwards, scoring 30 goals to go with 32 assists in 72 games during the Bruins’ 2010-11 Stanley Cup season. Lucic would add two more 20-goal seasons (26 in 2011-12; 24 in 2013-14) before being dealt to the Los Angeles Kings by the Boston Bruins for Martin Jones, defense prospect Colin Miller and the No. 13 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Lucic spent one season with the Kings and signed a seven-year, $42 million ($6M AAV) contract with the Edmonton Oilers on July 1, 2016. Lucic played three seasons of that contract with the Oilers before being traded to the Calgary Flames in the 2019 offseason. His offensive game diminished during that contract, and he is coming off the worst season of his career, with just seven goals and 12 assists in 77 games, but he did emerge as a leader on and off the ice for the Flames.