Milan Lucic/Photo by S. Bradley
At 11:59 P.M. Saturday it’s widely expected that the NHL will enter into a lockout when the collective bargaining agreement expires.
But that didn’t stop the Bruins from handing out one more giant contract extension to one of their key players who they’ve decided will be part of their foundation going forward.
On the heels of re-signing Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin to lucrative new deals, the Bruins today announced a three-year extension for Milan Lucic worth a total of $18 million. As it stands now, Lucic would be the Bruins’ highest-paid forward when the new contract starts in the 2013-14 — assuming of course the upcoming season is played or the NHL comes back in time for Lucic’s contract to start.
Lucic’s goal total dropped to 26 from 30 the previous year last season. He also went through stretches of ineffectiveness with his physical play and failed to score a goal in seven games against Washington in the playoffs. But the Bruins still look at the 24-year-old as the consummate Bruins player with his combination of brute strength and solid skills.
Barring a major change in free agency rules and a lost season in 2012-13, the Bruins are scheduled to have Andrew Ference and Nathan Horton head to unrestricted free agency after this season, while Jordan Caron and Tuukka Rask are ticketed for restricted free agent status in the summer of 2013. Of course, you could also count Tim Thomas among the UFAs.
The NHL owners are eyeing rolling back player salaries.
All these contracts are being signed in bad faith because the moment a deal is finally signed, all these big contracts will be subject to a rollback.
By the time the smoke clears, that 6 million will look more like 5 or in the high 4s.
I agree with everybody. Rollie is right on the money. Both figuratively and literally.
When I look at the market, and understand that the cap was supposed to jump to about 70M this season under the existing formula, I think an argument could be made that he’s overpaid by between 0.5-1M bucks. However, with some of the deals that have been thrown around recently, I’m not surprised. It’s important that the term is only 3 years, so this won’t be some albatross for the club.
I’m very confident that there are numerous clubs who would love to pay the man 6M, as well. In fact, I bet nearly half the league would gladly pony up between 5M and 6M for him. Players in this mold are really damn difficult to come by, guys. Extremely difficult. Not to mention, he’s a huge fan favorite.
End of the day, I’m happy that he’s locked in. Pretty clear they were having trouble coming to terms on a longer deal and in order to get things done before the lockout, the trade off was the salary bump.
I am in the camp this is way to much. Many times I have said how inconsistant this guy is. In all reality if Milan does not have two other talented players on his line he is non existant, and not effective. He’s one of those players that shows flashes of greatness but shift to shift is always dramatic and we think wow could be an impact player. This lock out is a real travesty and I wonder how long the players, owners, and league can really afford it. At the end of the day I feel worse for those whose livley hood’s are effectted times are tough enough to squeek out a buck
this is a crazy overpayment, but they over pay everyone so why all the surprise?
except seguin, i think that was a good deal for the bruins.
The more I think about the more boggled my mind gets. What the heck is PC thinking with 6 million. Second highest player on the team? Insane!
David
I agree with you about Bergeron, but I think he will get what he is due next contract. Lucic does bring the physical edge which intimidates opponents. However, there are some nights where the intensity could be dialed up.
Geez! Overpaid much? I think I’d be O.K. with him making $5m tops, but he is NOT worth more than Seguin or Bergeron. He definitely has been productive enough and brings enough other assets to his game to make him worth his current contract, but I really doubt he will be worth $6M…and that is considering inflation as well…
I’m done with the NHL for a year after they come back. This is unacceptable and while I feel better getting this crusade off my chest I’m horribly disappointed in the league.
Lucic, Marchand, Seguin all overpaid by varying degrees ranging from massively to slightly. Perhaps these negotiations centered around a salary rollback in the new CBA leading to these contracts being slightly inflated.
A massive overpayment here, unless he starts performing more consistently and up to his physical potential. This is something he’s failed to do consistently thus far in his career. I like the player, but think its 2 million more than he’s showed he’s worth.
Seems a bit steep?! How about a gross overpayment, at least for on ice performance and skill level. Chiarelli seems to be rewarding guys for intangibles but if his were that impressive he would have a letter on his chest. No way he should be the top paid forward. And its going to set a terrible standard for the overall market
$6 mil seems a bit steep, but it looks like the B’s are being proactive w/ their signings prior to this lockout, compared to the last one and they’re already calculating the rollbacks. Either way, they’re locking up a great core.