Boston Bruins: Trade Milan Lucic?

Sep 30, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing

Milan Lucic

(17) during the second period against the New York Islanders at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins rough start to the 2014-2015 season has left many fans foaming at the mouth in anger. Four goals in four games will put your chances at winning almost at zero. Fans should have expected the slow start given the amount of turnover and learning on the fly that has taken place during both the preseason and start of this year’s Bruins campaign. However, there is one player in particular that the Bruins have quickly identified as their scapegoat.

Five months removed from wrist surgery, Milan Lucic has gotten off to what can only be described as an abysmal start through four games. Lucic has zero goals and zero assists to go along with just four total shots and his physical presence has been severely lacking as well.

Inconsistent play is nothing new for those who have followed Lucic in recent years. Before last year, Lucic had registered scoreless streaks of at least eight games in each season dating back to his rookie year. However, it seemed starting with the finals run of 2013 and running through the entire 2013-2014 season that Lucic was finally establishing the consistency and dominant presence Bruins fan love to see.

Following a tumultuous offseason that saw veteran players head elsewhere either via free agency(Iginla) or trade(Boychuk), Lucic entered this season with an opportunity to stand out even more as a dominant player on this team, Also, the questions around his future with the team are slowly coming to the forefront of the conversation.

Lucic has one year remaining after this season left on his contract and the Bruins propensity to hand out contracts to their homegrown players has been well documented. When on top of his game, Lucic presents as a rare commodity in this league given his size and scoring touch. Even if Lucic were to have a sudden regression plague his entire season, the trade market for him will be frenzied regardless.

Compounding the issue even further will be another case of the market value of the player exceeding the actual one. The idea of Lucic; a 26 year old “power forward” entering his prime who has regardless of his streakiness as player puts up 25 goals and combined with his physical presence will make general managers across the league salivate at the idea of acquiring him.

I’m not saying the Bruins should absolutely trade Lucic, however his future with the team needs to be put into consideration given what takes place over this season. Before the season began, I identified Lucic as one of the players who needed to take on more of a leadership role with this team; especially in a time where they has been sudden turnover and through four games; a lack of chemistry.