Lucic leaving Calgary? Flames reportedly letting him talk to other teams

It looks like Milan Lucic may have played his last game as a member of the Calgary Flames.

Lucic, 35, is a pending UFA and can sign elsewhere when NHL free agency begins on July 1. But he can start talking to other teams right away, according to a report out of Vancouver.

Sources indicate the Flames have given UFA Milan Lucic's agent Gerry Johansson permission to talk with a few teams, Lucic will be hitting the free agent market on July 1st.

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) June 20, 2023

CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that Lucic’s agent has been granted permission to talk to other teams, even though he’s technically still under contract with the Flames for the next 11 days. That would be an unusual move for new Flames GM Craig Conroy to make if he was still interested in keeping Lucic in Calgary.

Lucic scored a career-low 19 points (7-12-19) in 77 games for the Flames last season. It was his fourth season in Calgary, after being acquired in a trade from the Edmonton Oilers in 2019.

“The people and the fans, and living here, was much better than I thought it would be when I got traded here,” Lucic told reporters back in April.

“I really enjoy being a Calgarian. Even when I didn’t touch the puck, just going in on the forecheck, the fans just ‘Lu’ing.’ Yelling ‘Luu’ and all that type of stuff. They made it fun for me again. I thank the people here for that and I appreciate them making it fun for me again… Coming here and playing home games, the fans made it fun every single day for me.”

The last time Lucic was a free agent, he signed a seven-year, $42 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers. He never lived up to that contract and admitted that it was a burden of sorts.

“To be honest, I’m actually really happy that this contract stuff is over, because of the heaviness of it,” Lucic said in April. “Obviously it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. I just need to refresh my mind as far as that stuff goes, then weigh out my options moving forward.”

Needless to say, Lucic will be earning far less than that on his next contract. He’s a fourth liner at this stage of his career, though the 6’4”, 240-pound winger still provides intangibles that will intrigue other teams around the league.

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