Friendships put aside as Lucic returns to L.A. for first time

Milan Lucic’s arrival in and departure from Los Angeles was somewhat complicated, as detailed here in this story prior to the Kings’ and Oilers’ preseason meeting in Vernon, British Columbia.

Less complicated: Lucic’s style of play. A hard-nosed north-south power forward, Darryl Sutter was always appreciative of the emotion Lucic brought to the Kings, and the leadership qualities he exhibited during his short time in Los Angeles.

That’s moot for tonight’s game, when Lucic and the Oilers visit Staples Center for the first of two meetings with the Kings this season. Lucic remains close with a handful of his ex-teammates, many of whom spent Wednesday evening with him at dinner in Manhattan Beach. But instead of the familiar post-game chest bumps with Alec Martinez, the Kings’ defender will be tasked with the much less enviable responsibility of ridding the crease of one of the league’s sturdiest bodies

“That’s the way the business is these days, you play against guys that you used to play with,” Martinez said. “I think that this summer that’s just another instance of that, I know that he plays hard and he’s obviously a physical body. We’ve just got to prepare for it just like we would any other guy that plays his style of game.”

Tonight’s game should provide for excellent theatre. Many eyes will be on the ex-King – if not transfixed on Connor McDavid – though perhaps fans entering the game should also warm up their vocal cords. While Lucic spoke openly about how he hoped to remain a King, and though financial constraints hindered the chance of him re-signing with the club, it’s not too difficult to envision a scenario in which he’s the target of the fans’ scorn.

It’s expected to be somewhat different from the homecomings experienced by Jarret Stoll, Mike Richards and Justin Williams last season.

“The guys that came back last year were all guys that were on the Cup teams, so they obviously got a pretty good reception, but even though it was one year I thought I had a pretty good connection with the fans here,” Lucic said. “They welcomed me with open arms and I had a lot of fun playing in front of them. Whether they cheer me or boo me, I appreciate them as fans being the fans that they are, so that’s all that matters to me. I really enjoyed playing in front of them and them cheering me on and the team on, and like I said, it makes it more fun heading in to tonight’s game knowing the fans are as great as they are.”

Some will see it otherwise – again, for the full context, read the story linked above – but financial considerations were the strongest force in the break-up between the Kings and a popular, effective player.

“Hey, we could give him everything except $42-million,” Darryl Sutter said. “We could give him climate, give him the centermen, give him everything. But at the end of the day, I’m happy for Looch. He’s 28 years old. You’ve got 42 million reasons to move, that’s pretty good.”

Other teams were also interested in Lucic – the Canadiens and Red Wings also offered similarly lucrative contracts, according to a source – and were able to show the free agent the type of capital that the Kings couldn’t match. Perhaps, then, the focus should be on why Lucic, who had one year remaining on his contract, was targeted in the first place. But again, as noted in the link above, the Kings’ hand was likely forced when the team learned that Martin Jones could be targeted with an offer sheet, as reported by Frank Seravalli of TSN.

Los Angeles, whose cap space is limited due to cap-eating deals signed by members in and on the periphery of its core, will continue to be challenged by a salary cap that hasn’t risen sharply in recent years.

“Yeah, the cap came in to play a little bit and there were more structural things that goes along then just dollars,” Lucic said. “…Unfortunately, I had to get in to a contract dispute with these guys and I wish I got traded here with more years on my contract then just one but like I said, the most important thing is it was a great year. I created a great relationship with everyone in the organization, from the training staff to the players to management to the coaches to the PR guys, everything. Lot of great memories here even though it was one year but all said and done I’m happy with where I ended up here with the Oilers.”

Thus far, his Oilers tenure has begun similarly to how his Kings tenure did: somewhat slowly. He has five goals and nine points in 17 games but has been held scoreless in his last four. Originally signed as a powerful link to superstar Connor McDavid, Lucic will play alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Anton Slepyshev on Thursday and will continue to be a pain in both the greasy areas around the goal and as a forward with deceptively good hands who enters the attacking zone high as an option for a drop pass.

“It’s been different,” Lucic said of his transition. It’s been a lot different, there’s definitely a lot of learning to be done and I think obviously it helped having such a great start, coming out of the gates 7-1, all that type of stuff. But I think what we’re learning right now as a group, especially a young group … is things don’t get easier when you’re on a winning streak. Things tend to get harder ‘cause you’re getting the other teams’ best game and the other teams are more prepared to play you when you’re having success and I think that’s what’s happened here in the last eight or nine games. We’ve got to raise our level back up to what it was in the first eight games and for myself, just trying to do everything I can as a teammate on and off the ice to help make a cultural change around here. The good thing is, like I talked about, in the past is guys are wanting to make a change and wanting to move things in the right direction. … You know in a long season there’s going to be ups and downs and it’s how you work your way through it is what makes you a good team. Tonight we’ve got to take this opportunity as a change in the right direction and … we’ve still got hope for a good road trip here if we get that big win tonight.”

Alec Martinez, on whether he followed the contract talks with Lucic and the Kings:
I mean, Looch and I are pretty close, so obviously I would talk to him about it and he would bring things up so I guess you kind of keep tabs on it along the way just ‘cause you’re friends with him, but like I said, this is a business and that kind of thing happens.

Martinez, on Lucic being a “monster” on the ice versus off the ice:
Monster? No. I mean a lot of guys are like that you know, a lot of guys are a lot different off the ice than they are on the ice. There’s a lot of rough and tough guys, you look at guys like enforcers and things like that like Kevin Westgarth, who was here. He’s a soft-spoken, nicest guy off the ice but once he was out there he was a different bird. That’s just kind of the way it goes.

Martinez, on what he knew about Lucic before he came to the Kings:
I didn’t really know him personally before he came here. You obviously hear things around the league and stuff like that, that he was a really good guy. You especially start asking around once the trade goes through but yeah prior to that I only knew him as an opponent and how he played on the ice.

Martinez, on Connor McDavid:
Yeah, you’ve got to be aware of him when he’s on the ice, you know he’s one of those really special players and he’s a big part of their team so you just got to have an awareness when he’s out there. You know, like you said, try and take away his time and space and limit his opportunities as much as you can.

Martinez, on defending against Milan Lucic:
I think you’ve just got to be cognizant, obviously he’s a really good player. Not that he’s not skilled, but he makes a lot of plays that skilled guys make maybe with their hands but he just goes through ‘em instead. He makes a lot of the same plays but goes about it a different way. Like I said, he’s a big, strong, physical body and you’ve got to play him as such.