Milan Lucic comments on potentially joining Maple Leafs

Bruising forward Milan Lucic is nearly at the end of his National Hockey League career, having just finished what was a seven year contract that he signed with the Edmonton Oilers in 2016 before being dealt to the provincial rival Calgary Flames prior to the 2019-20 season.

While he was an extremely valuable member of the 2011 Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins and continued to consistently provide offense in subsequent years, his stats began to diminish in a big way after his first year with the Oilers. This season with Calgary, he racked up only seven goals with 12 assists, his lowest career point total. 

He's already hinted at being open to the possibility of playing for his hometown Vancouver Canucks, whom he and the Bruins defeated in 7 games in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. But what about another Canadian team from Toronto? 

While joining Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill of the Leafs Take podcast, Lucic admitted that the lure of suiting up for an Original 6 franchise could be too good to pass up. 

"You can never rule anything out," he said. "Obviously, it's an original six franchise, a storied franchise. I've had my fair share of rivalries with the team and now with Brad Treliving coming in, there's some familiarity there, with him being the GM. I became really good friends with Mark Giordano being teammates with him in Calgary, and he's told me how much he's enjoyed it and how much he's loved being in Toronto and being a Maple Leaf."

"I'm still good friends with Jake Muzzin and he had shared the same feelings and how great it is playing in Toronto and how great it is being a part of that organization. And me, having experienced being on an original six team, there really is nothing like it.. when you're on an original six team, it means something a little bit different and, you know what, if there is an opportunity, I would definitely listen to it. Like I said, you never want to rule anything out and I'm sure I'll be getting a few calls and talking to a few teams moving forward here in the next couple of weeks."

In 1,173 career NHL games spent with the Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Oilers and Flames, Lucic has tallied a total of 233 goals and 351 assists while also racking up 1,299 PIM.