Fan favorite winger afforded the respect of searching for a new team prior to July 1
Looooch is loose.
According to reports, the Calgary Flames have given other teams permission to speak with pending unrestricted free-agent left winger Milan Lucic and his agent, Gerry Johansson.
Rick Dhaliwal of Vancouver reported the news, which will come as no shock to anyone who has followed the Flames. New general manager Craig Conroy has made it well known he wishes to integrate more youth, which likely means Lucic will not return despite his popularity.
Allowing teams to talk to Lucic before July 1 is a well-deserved courtesy for the veteran, who may find a depth-role position elsewhere. He remains wildly popular — for good reason — in Boston, and hails from Vancouver.
Lucic, who turned 35 years old this month, collected seven goals and a career-low 19 points last season. Since coming to Calgary in the summer of 2019, a trade of expensive contracts that saw James Neal head to the Oilers, Lucic has collected 35 goals and 48 assists in 283 games with Calgary.
Lucic finished a seven-year, $42-million contract signed with the Oilers in the summer of 2016. When the season ended, Lucic said it was “a relief” to have completed the deal and its lofty expectations.
“I’m a proud person, and by no means do I feel like I didn’t earn it — I definitely did earn it — but to not be able to live up to it was definitely something that weighed on me day to day. From a personal standpoint, it was hard to deal with at times,” said Lucic, who admitted there were times he contemplated retiring.
Not only did the Oilers retain some of Lucic’s salary in the trade, but they will be paying the buyout of Neal’s contract for the next two seasons.
Although his impact on the games has decreased over the years, Flames fans constantly showed their love whenever Lucic touched the puck.
Lucic, who was part of the Canada’s world championship-winning squad along with fellow Flames Tyler Toffoli and MacKenzie Weeger after the season, is likely not the lone player who will not re-sign in Calgary.
Forwards Nick Ritchie and Trevor Lewis and defensemen Michael Stone and Troy Stetcher are also pending UFAs.
