Milan Lucic is coming off the most disappointing season on his professional career. Going into last season, Lucic was seen as an undesirable opponent by mixing his tough guy attitude with an offensive flair. Unfortunately for the Edmonton Oilers, the offensive flair all but disappeared.
What made the collapse even more surprising is that he was playing with arguably the best offensive player in the league. Connor McDavid led the league in points when it was all said and done, but somehow Lucic ended up only 10 goals and 34 points despite playing all 82 games.
Lucic thinks he’s figured it out, or at least a part of it.
Lucic told Eric Duhatscheck of the Athletic that he’ll be switching back to a stiffer stick, as he believes the “extra whip” he gets from an extra 5 flex stick he’s been using since his wrist surgery in 2014 is partially to blame.
The following is credited to The Athletic:
“That’s exactly right,” Lucic said of pucks glancing off his stick last season. “Just kinda watching video on yourself in those areas where you missed the net, or missed chances, it was just those things you were talking about – they were kind of just flubbing and I wasn’t bearing down on them like I usually did in the past. So you want to move forward, but sometimes moving forward means going back to something that worked in the past. So that’s one of the things I decided to go back to.”
Lucic knows that a redemption season is not a quick fix away, but going back to something more familiar may add a level of comfortability.
Only time will tell if Lucic is able to live up to his big contract, until then the ridicule will likely continue.
(H/T The Athletic)
