SNACanuck Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2015/12/10/report-kings-want-to-start-lucic-extension-talks-soon/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs By Mike HalfordDec 10, 2015, 7:42 PM EST Brough must have a crystal ball or something, because hours after he wrote how interesting a free agent Milan Lucic will be, there’s news about Lucic’s contract situation. Per ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, the Kings are interested in re-signing Lucic and want to begin contract talks in the not-too-distant future. More, from TSN’s Insider Trading panel: “[Lucic] loves being there, and the Kings recently reached out to Lucic’s camp and said ‘listen, let’s get something going in the new year. We want to keep this guy around.’ “Obviously, they’ve got to get [Anze] Kopitar done first, but they’d like to retain Lucic.” Lucic, 27, is in the last of a three-year, $18 million deal with a $6M average annual cap hit. His production on a line alongside top scorers Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli has been great this year — 10 goals, 18 points — and while there’s no doubt Kings GM Dean Lombardi would like to keep that trio together, it will financially difficult. Per war-on-ice, L.A. has just under $50 million committed to only 14 players next year. The Kopitar contract will undoubtedly be huge, and Lombardi also needs to keep some money available for when Toffoli and Tanner Pearson go RFA in ’17-18. All of this begs the question: Would Lucic take a haircut to stick with the Kings? Because remember, for as much as he’d love to stay in L.A., the lure of Vancouver is there as well. In August, Lucic called playing for his hometown Canucks “a dream of mine since I’ve been a kid.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Sestito Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 thank god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 LA just simply won't have the cap to keep both Kopitar and Lucic. Kopi will want at least $8 million and that would leave them with next to nothing for Lucic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcakes Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I was always puzzled by Lucic's salary cap hit. It is 3.25 with the Kings and the Bruins retained 2.75 for a total of 6.0 in 2015/16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaner Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Whether we like it or not, I think it's safe to say that Lucic will be a Canuck next season. As others already pointed out, they simply won't have the money to retain Kopitar and Lucic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Even with the cap going up 3M, the Kings will need a couple of defencemen and Kopitar will be asking for a lot. As far as the Canucks are concerned, we need to sign one top-6 scorer and one top-4 defenceman to replace Vbrata and Hamhuis (even if Hamhuis resigns cheaply). List of top-6 forwards are: Lucic, Doan (unlikely), Ladd (maybe, the Jets have cap issues), Loui Eriksson, Boedker, Okposo, Jaden Shwartz etc. Any of those guys would be a perfect fit on the top line with the Sedins, and we'll have 15M in cap space to splurge. 6M should surely be enough to snag any of those guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outsiders Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I want Lucic to sign here in Vancouver. He is something we are missing Sedin-Sedin-Lucic GOOD GOD. the way the Sedins are playing Lucic would easily score 25+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Stammer- Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 no chance you get him and Kopitar, and i'd rather have Kopi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bissurnette Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Am I missing something here? What kind of magic can the Kings work with the cap to be able to fit in Kopitar and Lucic? No way Lucic accepts less than he is getting paid now, so are they thinking about not re-signing Kopitar then? Or maybe trading one of Gaborik or Brown? Maybe it's just smoke and mirrors by Lombardi for some ulterior motive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRussianRocket. Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 57 minutes ago, Tom Sestito said: thank god. wat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Barzal Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 If they do have plans to somehow retain both this will be a very interesting trade deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Kings will find a way to sign him. They'll move cap around to get it done. I never thought Lucic in Vancouver was realistic. Once players go to LA and get a taste for the lifestyle and the winning, they don't want to leave. This might be a good thing for us in the long run. Benning probably would have overpaid and given too much term to get him here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV77 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 2 minutes ago, DeNiro said: Kings will find a way to sign him. They'll move cap around to get it done. I never thought Lucic in Vancouver was realistic. Once teams go to LA and get a taste for the lifestyle and the winning, they don't want to leave. This might be a good thing for us in the long run. Benning probably would have overpaid and given too much term to get him here. Was just going to post that they will find a way for sure. They are in talks with both Kopitar and Lucic now, I think they know what they are doing and got plans. Just like most thought Chi will be in a trouble with the Kane and Toews contracts kicking in. They have had to move players since 2010 after each cup win and still remain competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Kings trade Kopitar. Get draft picks and prospects. They stock up their system and help long term on their cap. Re-sign Lucic. It's not rocket science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nux4lyfe Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Hope they get him signed so JB doesn't get any ideas...The dude's slow as a turtle and teams like the Hawks and even the Oilers (puke) will be skating circles around him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakrami Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Just took a look at LA's cap situation. lol at their super long contracts. Brown and Gaborik are the glaring ones. 10mil+ spent on these 2 players while Brown has been irrelevant for some seasons already. Gaborik is starting to regress this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 They have young guys like Mersch, Kempe and Zykov coming so they can afford to roll over the roster. They could easily move Carter, Brown or Gaborik, maybe two of them, while adding to their D pool. Dean-O will figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV77 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 28 minutes ago, Drakrami said: Just took a look at LA's cap situation. lol at their super long contracts. Brown and Gaborik are the glaring ones. 10mil+ spent on these 2 players while Brown has been irrelevant for some seasons already. Gaborik is starting to regress this year. They come to play when the playoffs start. Gaborik starting to regress in the regular season since NYR days. But in 2013, he was huge in the playoffs, hence the contract extension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiznak Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 They have the cap space to re-sign both Kopitar and Lucic, but like the article already mentioned, they will need to leave some money when Toffoli and Pearson become RFAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_314 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 39 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said: Kings trade Kopitar. Get draft picks and prospects. They stock up their system and help long term on their cap. Re-sign Lucic. It's not rocket science. REALLY. That's your first thought for fitting Milan back into their cap space. IMO Kopitar, Doughty and Quick are and should remain the Kings' cornerstones. If they trade Anze their center depth looks suspect, as they'd give up their #1 center and a key defensive player. Carter has been on fire and so has Milan, but let's not get too crazy now, highly doubt they'd let Anze go, even if they do get a king's ransom in return in trade. Of course Brown's salary could hinder them re-signing Anze, but I'd bet they'd try their best to dump him first or promote Zykov like someone mentioned before trading #11, otherwise they'd be doing the division a big favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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