When Steven Stamkos decided to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning it meant Milan Lucic would be the big fish on the open market and the forward cashed in.
Lucic signed a seven-year, $42-million contract with the Edmonton Oilers Friday. The deal carries an average annual value of $6 million just like Lucic’s last contract — a three-year deal worth $18 million.
The Oilers made waves Wednesday by trading Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Larsson. Lucic would be a candidate to step up into that No. 1 left winger role for Edmonton and potentially play alongside Connor McDavid.
In fact, Lucic specifically mentioned that playing with McDavid was one of the main reasons for choosing to sign with the Oilers.
“It basically came down to the McDavid factor,” Lucic told Sportsnet. “From what I saw just in one season as an 18-year-old was something special and I think for Oilers fans, with him, you can start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I truly believe with a special player like that it’s inevitable he’s going to do something great and that’s something I wanted to be a part of.”
The 28-year-old Vancouver native also received interest from his hometown Canucks plus the Dallas Stars. The Montreal Canadiens were reportedly the runners up for his services. He scored 20 goals and 35 assists in 81 games last season for the Los Angeles Kings. Lucic has 159 goals, 397 points and 851 penalty minutes in 647 career regular season games, most of which were spent with the Boston Bruins who drafted him in the second round of the 2006 draft.
It was clear from the start that the Oilers were the favourites to land Lucic. The team even hosted him Tuesday to give him a tour of Rogers Place.
