Monday Mailbag – Could Milan Lucic really get traded?

Hello, hello! Welcome, my friends, to another Monday morning edition of the mailbag where we’ve taken your questions and turned them into a little bit of free learnin’. This week, we look at the question that everyone seems to be asking about whether or not Milan Lucic will still be an Edmonton Oiler by the time October rolls around. Other that that, we talk a little bit about the playoffs, prospects that fly under the radar, and anything else you guys sent in. If you want in on next week’s mailbag, just fire me an email at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk. Until then, I encourage you to sit back, relax, and waste a few minutes of company time. Have a good week, everybody.

Oilers were missing an overall commitment last year. A bad start had them second guessing themselves early. I think they need a few more proven, veteran wingers. I expect McDavid, Draisaitl, Klefbom, RNH, Larsson and Nurse to become the real leaders of the team. The veterans can be good support staff, but their best players need to be the ones leading the way and setting the tone of what their identity as a team will be.

As for a vet going out. I’m not sold there is an obvious one. I don’t think that moving Kassian, for what likely would be a low return, is the best move. Lucic would be willing to lift his NMC, but only to the right team, and I’m not sold those teams would be willing to take him.

Has to be Milan Lucic, but he needs to waive his NMC. On the face of it, I think it’s a bad move to sell low on Lucic but it depends who is coming back and what the numbers end up being. Oilers will either have to eat some salary or take another bad contract in return.

He’s talking about Lucic. I think they are missing the combination of size and speed together on the wing. May be able to accomplish that if Lucic is moved.

When I FIRST heard it, I immediately thought about how Trading Klefbom would be the most Oilersy move available. However, since then there has been a lot of chatter about Lucic being ready to move on. I am all over that. Missing ingredients could be almost anything. The team has holes throughout its lineup.

Klefbom and for a point-scoring defenceman. I don’t think that’s what they’re missing. Klefbom filled that role in 16-17. They just need defence that can move the puck well and scoring wingers.

Honestly I could see Lucic willing to move his no trade clause. I’m getting the vibe he’s not big on the city anymore… but I could be completely wrong. Whatever long term contract we will be giving up, I have a feeling we’ll be eating some of its salary up. I think Chia needs to tread carefully with this move.

At first, I thought that he was surely talking about Oscar Klefbom, but, as the week moved forward, my thinking turned to Milan Lucic. Personally, I think that Lucic asked for a trade and that Chiarelli is doing him a solid with shopping him, but that’s just me. Will it happen? Who knows. Buckle up.

Best guess is 15% chanced. Return would be a contract similar in length and money.

I don’t think the odds are any worse than 50-50. I’d expect a lousy return because I think the Oilers are making a mistake if they trade Lucic now after the worst half-season of his career. You couldn’t pick a worse time to trade a player you were willing to back up the Brinks truck for not so long ago.

At this point, I’d be surprised if Lucic is an Oiler in October. You either bring back a bad contract or toss in a sweetener. I don’t think sweetener will have to be that impressive to eventually get a deal done.

No idea on odds. I think the return will be a halfway useful player on a poor contract. But if the contract is only three years then the Oilers have to add extra to find a suitor. Lucic’s contract is one of the worst in the NHL.

40%. Lucic has five years remaining on his contract and coming off a brutal season, as well as two years of declining even strength production. I’d try and move him for a similarly overpaid player with less team. Maybe Brandon Sutter.

It makes for a good headline now, and I would love to see it happen, but in reality I think we’re a long ways from seeing Lucic gone this summer. Chia will give him another season to prove himself, THEN we could start talking trade.

Honestly, I’d give it a coin toss. You know that basically every team out there has a turd for a contract that they’d like to get rid so you never know what can happen. That said, there’s a lot of money, term, and no-move control that could get in the way of anything happening.

Caleb Jones. Not for this year, but down the road.

I don’t have one. Haven’t seen and don’t know enough about secondary prospects to say. If Ryan Mantha qualifies as flying under the radar after coming over from the NYR, it might be him. Big kid. Big shot, and from the right side.

Not really under the radar but I like Ostap Safin. Hopefully, he can become a regular after a couple of years in the AHL.

Hmm. That’s a tough one because every Oiler prospect has articles written about him. Their actions are watched all season long. I think we always need to watch defenders longer than others because they don’t always develop in straight lines. Maybe someone like Samorukov fits the bill you’re looking for.

Cooper Marody. He had a strong season in college and a good three-game stint in Bakersfield.

I’m going to choose Stuart Skinner based on the fact that he’s been making a lot of headlines. I know the stats and odds of strong WHL goaltenders coming in and flopping at the NHL level, but Skinner’s been making a big stir in Edmonton and I’m eager to see how he develops in Bakersfield.

I’m quietly optimistic about Cooper Marody. You don’t lead the Big-10 division in scoring by winning on a scratch ticket, and his late season stint with the Condors went quite nicely. I’m looking forward to seeing how he does at training camp and in his first full year with Bakersfield.

So many things. Stop discouraging fans (ushers) from cheering too loudly. Get better pre-game music. Show more replays, or prepackaged clips, rather than panning the crowd for the 50^th time in a game. It is terrible. No fan gets excited watching some random fan smile and wave because they are on the jumbotron. Get video from Vegas pre-game and during game interactions and mirror even 40% of it and it would be a massive upgrade to what is currently going on.

Put a winning team on the ice. Provide real entertainment between whistles, not when the play is stopped. If your team is lousy and isn’t competitive then all the fabricated sizzle in the world only goes so far. There is no better way to put a jolt into a building and to give fans their money’s worth than to win. And never play Cotton Eye Joe, even at gunpoint.

Tough for me to answer because I only attend a couple of games per year in the crowd. From the press box, I’d say the fans need a little more variety… seems to me like the same stuff over and over, even the things that don’t work.

I think the first step to that is that they need to actually value their fans. I’ve had the impression that they’ve taken all fans for granted. There’s no sense that the club needs to EARN dollars from fans. Once that happens, we should see a change. Until then OEG isn’t going to lift a finger. Why spend extra money 41 games a year when you’re already sold out every game, winning doesn’t matter, and the fans are conditioned to blindly accept your word that the future is bright?

I haven’t been to many games so I’ll just go with winning. Put a product on the ice that fans can cheer for.

It just seems like they’ve been using the same old crowd shots, and the same old ‘hidden ball in the cup” game since the early 2000’s. I feel like they just need a younger management group in there to be willing to make the change to the new, Las Vegas, NHL. Cause everyone in their current staff would never make the leap.

I went to a few games last year and it got to the point where I couldn’t stop laughing at the crowd shots on the jumbotron. They paid so much money for that damned thing and the only thing they use it for during the stoppages in play is to pan the crowd for people that will wave to the camera. It’s really weird. I’m not saying that they have to go full-Vegas and do the 45-minute game intro but some highlight packs, varying media clips, and better contests would go a long way.

The fact Vegas’ fourth line was their best line through the first four games of the Cup Finals. Great for the fourth line, bad news for the team.

That the Oilers weren’t in them. How many people picked the Knights to make the playoffs? How many picked the Oilers to miss them?

I’ve gotta go with Lars Eller making clutch plays and his ability to step up when the Caps dealt with injuries. I’m surprised by most things he’s accomplished since Eric Gryba almost killed him.

I don’t know about SURPRISES but I think it was interesting that the two best teams in the West had to destroy each other in the second round. If that’s something the Pacific can take advantage of then Edmonton’s path to the final two rounds is just *that* much easier. And I know that’s funny to say, but the plan can’t possibly be to waste McDavid’s NEXT contract too.

I thought Pittsburgh would handle Washington easily. This Capitals team isn’t Washington’s best team in years but ended up being the one to win it all.

My biggest surprise had to be the Penguins. I know their time HAD to come to an end sooner or later, but I really thought they had it in them to advance further. With that said, I’m MORE than happy to see the Caps beat them.

This might be a weird answer but I didn’t expect to be as happy for Ovi as I was after seeing him win it. His reaction when lifting the Cup was awesome and the fact that basically held it up over his head for 72 straight hours was hilarious. I was super happy for him.

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