Los Angeles

Milan Lucic Misses Los Angeles Maybe More than the Kings Miss Him

Former Kings forward Milan Lucic returned to Los Angeles as a member of the Edmonton Oilers and you could tell he still missed playing for his former club.

How can you miss me if I don't go away?

Milan Lucic was walking towards the underground parking lot at Staples Center when he suddenly stopped and looked around.

It didn't take long for him to realize his car wasn't there and that he was unsure of where to go. He stopped to greet a former Kings employee and share a hug before he asked him, "Where do we go to meet the families?"

After the worker directed him towards the elevators inside the arena that would take him to the main level where a section was roped off for families and friends, I shook the former King's hand and told him we [the media] miss him inside the home locker room.

"I miss it too," he said with a smile.

He may have been greeted by friends donned in Edmonton Oiler jerseys, but the happy-go-lucky left winger was likely taking a stroll down memory lane as he made his return to Los Angeles.

All you have to do is check out Lucic's Instagram account over the past year to see how much he enjoyed his time in L.A. Whether it was attending concerts and sporting events with his teammates, or taking his wife and kids to Disneyland, Lucic loved soaking up the Southern California sun during the 2015-2016 season.

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"I said it all along: I wanted to stay in L.A.," Lucic told LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen earlier that morning. "I tried everything I could to make it work and I think both ends tried everything to make it work."

Lucic is an Edmonton Oiler because of the business side of the National Hockey League, and not because of the city of broken dreams.

Lucic was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings on June 26, 2015 on a draft day trade that sent goalie Martin Jones, prospect Colin Miller, and the No. 13 overall pick to the Boston Bruins.

The Kings thought that Lucic would once again make them a Stanley Cup contender and General Manager Dean Lombardi was willing to give up a bounty to Boston with the confidence the team could re-sign Lucic in the offseason.

After a great season by the forward affectionately nicknamed "Looch," both parties were interested in letting the good times continue, but anxious a deal could get done.

Lucic wanted a long-term contract roughly around what he was already making in Boston. Unfortunately, the Kings didn't have the cap space available for a deal that large and weren't able to free up enough room to make it happen.

Ultimately, after the Kings tried, but failed, to trade away Dustin Brown—only to strip him of his captain status later—Lucic agreed to a seven-year $42 million contract with the Oilers.

Reportedly, the Kings final offer came in at eight years and $34 million, nearly $2 million less per season over the length of the deal and without the lure of playing with a rising star like Connor McDavid for the next decade.

"Obviously with it being a cap system, the deal didn't work out in the end," said Lucic. "I really enjoyed my time in LA. I know [the media] know how much I enjoyed it. I wish I would have got traded there with more years left on my contract other than one year, but I'm happy with where I ended up and I'm also happy with the experience that I had last year in LA."

But is Lucic really happy in his new home north of the border?

As Southern California reached temperatures the mid-90s last week, Edmonton was below freezing with an average temperature of 23 degrees.

Outside of the weather, Edmonton started off the season hot, surging to the front of the Pacific Division. However, a recent five-game losing skid has seen the Oilers fall back towards the pack and they currently stand in second place.

Like the team itself, Lucic has been inconsistent in the month of November, and still appears to be struggling to get acclimated with his new team.

After four goals and three assists in the month of October, Lucic has just one goal and one assist, respectively in November, and his time with McDavid on the first line has diminished as he's seen more ice time with the Oilers second and third lines.

Lucic was originally brought to the Oilers to provide a veteran presence for a very young and inexperienced club. Additionally, Edmonton wanted a bigger, tougher player who could adjust to the styles of the Pacific Division like the Kings and Ducks.

The experiment hasn't worked as planned as Edmonton lost to both teams on back-to-back nights by a combined score of 8-3. Despite wanting a physical player, Lucic's style of play does not mesh well with the speed and quickness of the young guns on the ice.

Edmonton has won just twice over their last nine games and the scoring opportunities, not to mention the boxcar stats, have simply not been there. 

Meanwhile, the Kings haven't faired much better, also struggling with consistency without Lucic and All-Star goalie Jonathan Quick.

The Kings are currently fourth in the Pacific Division and post a losing record of 8-9-1 on the year. The team was able to re-sign their head coach, Darryl Sutter, to a new contract in the offseason, but Sutter knows his team would be a lot better with Lucic on their line. 

"We could give him everything here except $42 million dollars," Sutter told the media on Thursday morning. "We could give him the city and the climate, but hey, I'm happy for Looch. He's 28 years old and he gets 42 million reasons to move. That's pretty good."

Evidently, the Kings are not. Without Lucic, it's hard to see the Kings compete for a third Stanley Cup this season. The initial moves to bring Lucic to L.A. last season looked great at the time, but in retrospect have noticeably backfired.

Boston quickly flipped Jones to San Jose where he was in net to eliminate his former team in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs last season, en route to a Stanley Cup Final that saw the Sharks lose to the Penguins.

The Kings lost Miller, their draft pick, and ultimately Lucic as well once the dust settled and have nothing to show for it at the end of the day, except a 4-2 victory over their former forward's Oilers on Thursday.

"It was fun," Lucic said after the game. "It doesn't matter if you're a home player or road player it's always fun playing in Los Angeles here at Staples Center. I was really looking forward to this game, I circled it on my calendar, but unfortunately it didn't end up well on my side."

It likely won't end up well come next summer for both sides but the longing each has for the other will remain for a while.

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