Chiarelli silent on future of $6 million man Lucic
No one’s talking as GM sets his sights on wheeling and dealing at the draft
Peter Chiarelli says he’s open for business to move his 10th pick in Friday’s NHL Draft for more immediate help, but wouldn’t comment on Milan Lucic.
When the Edmonton Oilers general manager was asked whether Lucic had asked to be traded, he said he “wouldn’t comment on that.”
No firm or even weak denial, which sounds like Lucic would rather play somewhere else.
Lucic’s Edmonton-based agent Gerry Johannson isn’t talking.
If anybody wants Lucic, who has five years left with a $6 million cap hit, it won’t be at the draft, because the Oilers owe him a $3.5-million bonus to be paid on July 1.
If there’s a deal to be made for the burly left winger, it wouldn’t happen until the bonus has been paid by the Oilers.
Chiarelli says he hasn’t lost his faith in the former Stanley Cup winner with the Bruins, nor should he. Lucic is coming off his worst NHL season which might be an outlier. He’s been a 50-55 point player for much of his career.
If Lucic does want out, a trade would work better if he had a 50-point season in Edmonton this upcoming season, rather than coming off his 10-goal, 34-point season of 2017-18, when his broad shoulders slumped around the net for months.
“My confidence level is pretty high (in Lucic). He’s a high character individual. He has to have a good summer. Conditioning for him isn’t really an issue, but he has to be in the right frame of mind,” said Chiarelli. “He’s a proud guy and we’d like to have him back at a better level than he was at last year.”
As for the search for a defenceman who shoots right, where does that stand?
“I’d be OK with our blue-line as it is now,” said Chiarelli. “But we would look to move the pick if the right player, an NHL defenceman, is available. I’ve had discussions with some teams.”
Chiarelli had a tough time dealing for a right-shot defenceman in 2016. He looked at P.K. Subban in Montreal, but the price was way too high, and eventually traded Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson.
The currency in today’s NHL is very high for any defenceman who shoots right because teams like the righty-lefty defence pairings scheme. A power play point guy who unloads from the right is also in great demand.
“There’s a lot of chatter this week and we’re involved in it. I’ve said our pick was in play and teams have called to see if it’s in play for a defenceman or a forward,” Chiarelli said.
The usual right-shot defence trade suspects have been trotted out: Justin Faulk in Carolina, Tyson Barrie in Colorado, Colton Parayko in St. Louis and Dougie Hamilton in Calgary, but you’d have to give up more than just the 10th pick to get players of that ilk. They ’d need to throw in a live body as well.
“The righty-lefty thing is a hot topic,” said Chiarelli. “From the offensive perspective of what we’d be looking for, if it could be a right-shot defenceman, that would be great, but I’m not closed in on that.”
Like the left-shot Boston blueliner Torrey Krug, who might be available because Boston has Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk.
“Right-shot defencemen are hard to get, they’re valuable, and there’s some in the draft, too,” Chiarelli said. “At 10, we think there might be that defenceman available.
“I’m not stuck on the rightylefty combination, because we have players who can handle and pass pucks from both sides. But the general type of right-shot player is hard to find, and the way the NHL’s going, they’re valuable. That’s the obstacle we have.”
Chiarelli gave some props to right-shot Matt Benning, who reupped earlier in the week.
“Matt had a bit of a down year, as we all did, but he has the offensive side to his game,” said Chiarelli. “He relies on his hockey sense and his vision, and I expect to have that back in our game. He’ll bolster our defence.”