Ex-Bruin Milan Lucic officially calls it a career

This story originally appeared in the Globe’s Sunday Hockey Notes. Read the rest here.

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Former Bruins power forward Milan Lucic, who spent the past season playing in Scotland for the Fife Flyers in an attempt to find a route back to an NHL roster, announced via social media last Sunday that he has put away the skates for good. In a text exchange with a Globe reporter, he said he will return to North America this week to begin life after his playing days.

The big man left a mark: 233 goals and 353 assists and a Cup with the Bruins in 2011 in his 1,177 regular-season games. He put up a career-high 62 points in that 2010-11 season and contributed 5-7–12 to the championship run.

Upon taking the general manager’s chair in May 2015, one of Don Sweeney’s first moves was to send a 27-year-old Lucic to the Kings, setting up the hulking winger for a humongous payday (seven years/$42 million) a year later in Edmonton when ex-Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli was running the Oilers.

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As of today, the lone remnants of that Lucic-to-LA deal are Boston College center Will Moore (No. 51 pick in last year’s draft) and a Round 4 pick the Bruins own in the upcoming entry draft. Andrew Peeke and Max Wanner, also with ties to the ‘15 Lucic deal, ended the season under contract with the Bruins. As of today, both are free agents.

Lucic’s final NHL games were four with the Bruins at the start of 2023-24 (0-2–2). While recovering from injury during that comeback bid, he was arrested in a domestic violence case in which charges were later dropped. He soon entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, and did not return to the ice until his brief stay with AHL Springfield early this season, prior to leaving for Scotland.

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