In a recent podcast from Spittin’ Chiclets, one of the most entertaining players in the league Milan Lucic stated that the Toronto Maple Leafs showed interest in him during free agency.
When he spoke about potentially joining the Toronto Maple Leafs, he stated that “it would be tough for me to be a Leafer”.
Lucic had a connection with current Leafs general manager Brad Treliving as the former Calgary GM acquired the Vancouver native from the Edmonton Oilers in 2019.
The former Stanley Cup champion elected to sign with the Boston Bruins on a one-year deal worth $1 Million, with an additional $500,000 in performance bonuses.
Toronto Maple Leafs a Bad Player Turned Them Down
Lucic referred to it being hard to put on the Toronto Maple Leaf crest as he was part of the old Boston / Toronto rivalry from nearly a decade ago, that led to him playing in one playoff series against the Maple Leafs (2012-13) being the reason he couldn’t sign with the club.
"He expressed some interest, and I was like, 'Yeah, it would be tough for me to be a Leafer.' "
— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) August 1, 2023
Milan Lucic tells @spittinchiclets the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks joined the Bruins in reaching out during free agency: https://t.co/lNDGcLz46N pic.twitter.com/i7ggeWbFK6
It is unlikely that Lucic would have saw a better deal from the Toronto Maple Leafs as it would have been tough for him to crack the line-up each night, where he will now have that opportunity all season long for the rebuilding Bruins.
The guaranteed salary that Boston gave Lucic is much more than the Leafs would have likely considered paying, let alone the additional bonus. Lucic is now six seasons removed from his last 20-goal campgign and in that time has not been able to notch more than ten in a season, while scoring just seven last season.
Lucic is still one of the most feared players in the league and is still has no problem throwing the body, however his foot speed would likely put him behind the play. He would resemble more of what Wayne Simmonds brought the last two seasons and that is not something the Toronto Maple Leafs would have wanted to spend more than the league minimum to acquire.
It is more evident that playing opportunity and money played a bigger role in Lucic’s decision, rather than wearing a Maple Leafs jersey.
Either way, it looks like the Leafs caught a break here. There is no reason for them to be trying to waste money on bad players, and thankfully because Lucic didn’t want to come here, they won’t.
That is a lucky break.