Player Projection: Milan Lucic
NHLHS Boston Bruins Correspondent Brandon Macdonald presents his player projection story. This upcoming season, Brandon feels Milan Lucic will have a breakout season for Boston.
It was supposed to be the season where Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic pushed his game to the next level, but instead saw his point totals drop drastically as he succumbed to multiple injuries.
During the 2008-09 season, his second in the NHL, Lucic posted 17 goals for 42 points and really benefited from playing with Marc Savard and Phil Kessel. It really was the perfect line with a bulking power forward, a playmaker and a sniper.
It was clear that the Bruins felt better going forward with Lucic after they dealt Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lucic signed a three-year extension at $4 million per season before the 2008-09 campaign.
It wasn’t exactly the season Looch was looking for; he broke his finger on Oct. 16 and did not return to the lineup until Nov. 19. Only four games later the tides once again turned on him and he injured his left leg causing him to miss an additional 18 games.
In 50 games this season Milan scored nine goals for 20 points.
I believe that, if he is still with the team come opening night, you will see Savard centering a line with Lucic and newcomer Nathan Horton. This is a line that will create some magic if the chemistry is there. Both Lucic and Horton are big bodies that can put the puck in the net and having a guy like Savvy dishing them the puck it could mean big goals for the Bruins.
Without a doubt Lucic will be looking to prove the critics that say he is over paid, judging by his numbers and playoff production is true. However, he was injured and really did show signs that he was coming around near the end of the season and into the playoffs.
The improvement of his snap and wrist shot was evident, as he got more comfortable coming back from his injuries. I can see Looch getting plenty of time on the power play planted in front of the net and getting back to his ways of battling in the corner.
Look for more of this. (Sorry Mikey, get healthy bud!)
Heading in to his fourth season in the NHL, you can expect a hungrier and fiercer Milan Lucic. Playing with the likes of David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Savvy and maybe even Tyler Seguin you can expect his assist numbers to balloon.
It should be an interesting season for Milan Lucic and the Boston Bruins.
Projection: 25 goals, 40 assists, 65 points
Brandon Macdonald
NHLHS Boston Bruins Correspondent
bmacdonald@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter @bMacdonald8
And considering that Milan’s 4million per contract comes into play this season, the fans are definitely expecting more of him now, including actually playing LIKE a 4 million man, and not like the 850K guy he played like last year!
We certainly don’t need ANOTHER 4 million dollar backbencher on the Bruins!