Calgary Flames left wing Milan Lucic (17) reacts after celebrating with the bench after scoring a goal in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks, Sunday, Dec.18, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. THRE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Josie Lepe
CALGARY – Milan Lucic was among veterans players departing Calgary on an otherwise quiet opening day of NHL free agency for the Flames on Saturday.
Lucic, forward Trevor Lewis and defenceman Troy Stecher signed one-year contracts elsewhere.
Both Lucic, 35, and Lewis, 36, returned to clubs with whom they previously won Stanley Cups.
The Flames didn’t announce any player signings Saturday, although new general manager Craig Conroy said there may be some later this summer after the dust settles on the initial frenzy.
“This is a day when there’s a lot of money spent. We didn’t have a lot of money to spend,” Conroy said at the Saddledome.
Conroy’s predecessor Brad Treliving, now the Toronto Maple Leafs’ GM, committed a combined $133 million and 15 years in contracts to Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri last summer.
The Flames had less than $3 million in cap space Saturday, according to CapFriendly.
Lucic returned to Boston where he spent eight seasons from 2008 to 2015 and won a Stanley Cup in 2011.
The six-foot-three, 240-pound winger’s one-year contract was worth US$1 million plus $500,000 in bonuses, the Bruins announced.
Lucic scored 35 goals and had 48 assists in 283 games over four seasons as a Flame.
A bottom-six forward for most of his time in Calgary, Lucic was a fan favourite who drew chants of “Loooch” at the Saddledome.
The Vancouverite marked his 1,000th NHL game as a Flame on April 13, 2021. Lucic has a career 233 goals and 351 assists in 1,173 games for Boston, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Calgary.
He’s also appeared in 136 career playoff games with 29 goals and 48 assists.
Lucic also played in the men’s world championship for the first time in his career this spring and won a gold medal with Canada.
Lewis went back to the Los Angeles Kings where he’d spent 10 years earlier in his career and won Stanley Cups in both 2012 and 2014.
He signed a one-year contract for the league minimum US$775,000.
The Flames acquired Stecher from the Arizona Coyotes at the trade deadline.
He had three goals and four assists in 20 games for Calgary. The 29-year-old blue-liner headed back to the desert Saturday.
Conroy says he spoke to Lucic and to the agents of Lewis and Stecher.
“They were great Calgary Flames. They came and they were good pros and they did a good job,” Conroy said.
“With our situation, where we’re trying to move forward in the future, to get some of these younger players an opportunity, as good as they were, we didn’t feel they were a fit at this point.
“We’re looking to get a little bit younger, a little bit of youth in the lineup to add with our veteran guys because I think if you have a mix of those two it’s only going to make our team better.”
While forward Nick Ritchie and defenceman Michael Stone also hit the open market Saturday, what’s pressing Conroy is several high-profile Flames entering the final years of their contracts.
Unable to sign 31-year-old winger Tyler Toffoli to an extension, the Flames dealt their leading scorer this season to the New Jersey Devils for forward Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick at the NHL draft Tuesday.
The pick was Aydar Suniev from Penticton, B.C.
Mikael Backlund, the longest-serving Flame of 14 seasons, top producer Elias Lindholm and defenceman Noah Hanifin, Nikita Zadorov, Chris Tanev and Oliver Kylington are scheduled for unrestricted free agency in 2024.
Forwards Dillon Dube and Adam Ruzicka will be restricted free agents next year.
Conroy said he’d spoken to Lindholm earlier Saturday.
“It’s still early in the summer,” Conroy said. “We’re not setting deadlines or drop-dead dates. We’re just continuing to talk and moving forward and seeing what their side wants to do and what we want to do.
“We’re in a good place I think.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2023.
