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With absolutely nothing happening in the hockey world right now, and for the foreseeable future, I’ve decided to take the plunge and write player profiles for each member of the Calgary Flames.
As was the case when I did them last summer, we’ll be looking at the season they just put together and expectations moving forward.
I’ve written up nine players thus far, with Mark Giordano being the most recent.
Today we’re going with Milan Lucic.
Counting stats: 68 games played, 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists), 13:20 average time on ice
5v5 underlyings: .93 points/60, +0.10 CF% Rel, +4.24 GF% Rel, +0.76 xGF% Rel, 100.4 PDO
2019-20 review: On the basis of the contract Lucic possesses, his season was a disaster. Extreme inefficiency at 5v5 and 20 total points is hardly worth $5.25 million. His shot and chance generation numbers continue to plummet, too, so there’s not much room for optimism moving forward when it comes to his offensive game.
That said, I think his season went about as well as anyone could have realistically hoped. He scored two more goals, and matched last season’s point toal, in 11 fewer games. That’s good. The Flames out-shot, out-chanced, and out-scored opponents with Lucic on the ice. That’s also good.
Lucic doesn’t have much left offensively, and can be a tough watch due to his lack of finishing ability and speed, but he still managed to help the Flames get results. He was a pleasant surprise in that regard.
Fun fact(s): Lucic finished with a Corsi above 50% for the 13th consecutive season.
Lucic’s production rate on the power play (4.41 per 60) was the 2nd highest of his career.
2020-21 outlook: Lucic has three more years left at $5.25M per. He’ll be on the team next season. How he is used will depend on what GM Brad Treliving elects to do behind the bench, in my opinion.
Geoff Ward likes Lucic and has a long history with him. If Ward takes over full-time, I’d expect Lucic to continue playing in the bottom-6 (more 3rd line than 4th line) and seeing a steady dose of minutes on PP2.
While Lucic was actually fairly productive on the PP this season, that’s more to do with him collecting a couple garbage goals than actually creating anything himself. His chance generation numbers in three of the last four years were better than this season; he just managed to capitalize at a decent clip. I think his PP time should be cut but, again, that depends on coaching.
If Treliving brings in somebody else who isn’t attached – Bruce Boudreau, for example – Lucic’s usage could dwindle a bit.
numbers via naturalstattrick.com and hockey-reference.com
Recent posts:
2020-21 player profile: Mark Giordano
2020-21 player profile: Dillon Dube
2020-21 player profile: Andrew Mangiapane
2020-21 player profile: Derek Ryan
2020-21 player profile: Sam Bennett
2020-21 player profile: T.J. Brodie
2020-21 player profile: Mikael Backlund
2020-21 player profile: Noah Hanifin
2020-21 player profile: Elias Lindholm
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