Milan Lucic has a new home in the NHL, and he’s excited about the opportunity.
The ex-Boston Bruin was traded by the Edmonton Oilers to the Calgary Flames in exchange for James Neal on July 19. And in an interview with Sportsnet960 on Thursday, Lucic revealed his thoughts around the move.
“I think the main thing for me was just getting a fresh start,” Lucic said. “Coming to a good team, a veteran team, a team that took a big step in the right direction last year … for myself, it’s just coming in and just helping. I’m not coming in looking to be some sort of savior or anything like that. I don’t think it was like that going into Edmonton as well.”
The 31-year-old forward’s career in Edmonton certainly was rocky. Despite a strong showing in his first year with the Oilers, Lucic’s final two years with the team were fairly dismal, scoring just 16 goals and 38 assists (54 points total) in both seasons combined.
But that’s not the only thing he hopes to improve upon.
“… In Edmonton, I think I put a little bit too much pressure on myself to be this leader, power forward, goalscorer, all this type of stuff,” he said. “I think I put too much on my plate, (it was) too much for me to handle.”
We’ll see how well he’ll handle Calgary when the 2019-20 season begins in October.
