On Wednesday, the Edmonton Oilers traded away one of the five best left wings in hockey when they sent Taylor Hall to New Jersey. On Friday, they signed the best free agent left wing for most of the next decade.
ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun broke the news:
There are some obvious things worth saying about the contract. To land a player like Lucic, this is the price; teams value him. The money’s actually pretty reasonable for a competent first-line player (more on that in a moment), though, as always with these contracts, the term is a serious concern. In other words, it’s not a good contract, but by the standards of free agency it represents market value.
Lucic’s perceived value includes his ability to impact goal differential through things like puck possession and scoring, but also his physical presence. It’s difficult to put value on the latter. He is undeniably a big, aggressive player, perhaps the toughest and meanest top-six forward left in the NHL. That’s a nice element to have on the roster.
However, those expecting Lucic to act effectively as a deter ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
Milan Lucic Is Best Replacement, but Oilers Still Worse After Taylor Hall Trade
July 1st, 2016 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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