Boston Globe reporter Kevin Paul Dupont tweeted today that Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic is out with a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated tomorrow or Thursday. No word yet on the exact nature of the injury to the 35-year-old but he did miss Sunday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks after taking the pre-game warmup. Lucic did one lap with the team and immediately went to the dressing room and did not return.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told the media prior to Sunday’s game that one of their players was dealing with a day-to-day thing and was questionable for the Anaheim game. Given what has transpired this week it appears to have been Lucic.
Lucic took a slap shot in the foot in Saturday night’s 4-2 Bruins win against the Los Angeles Kings and missed some shifts shortly after. But there is no word yet on whether that is the cause of the additional testing later this week.
Lucic returned to the Bruins this summer signing a one-year $1MM (plus bonuses) deal after spending the last four seasons with the Calgary Flames. The native of Vancouver, British Columbia was brought in on a value deal in the hopes of being able to provide the Bruins with a net-front presence and some physicality. Although he is not the player he was when Boston traded him to Los Angeles in 2015, he has still been a productive NHLer, and big men are always in demand.
In Boston this season, Lucic is off to an uneven start with two assists in four games, while those offensive numbers are above his recent averages, his possession numbers and many of his underlying numbers aren’t great thus far.
Here is his whole job: Offensive zone? Stand in front of their goalie and deflect shots, maybe pick up some garbage goals. Defensive zone? Stand in front of our goalie and clear out bodies. He basically can skate between those two positions once a shift, then looks tired and ready to collapse.
Lucic has ZERO value, Another guy that can’t let go, Why Sweeney brought him back is baffling.