Five free agents the Tampa Bay Lightning should avoid

Free agents for the Tampa Bay Lightning to avoid: Milan Lucic

• 2022-23 season – 19 points in 77 games played
• 2023-24 salary projection – $775,000

Now that his failed seven-year, $42 million contract is up, Milan Lucic is free for the taking, and based on projections, it seems like he can be had for the league minimum.

The problem is whether you think he has any magic left to be found. His last four years in Calgary saw him fail to score more than 23 points, and he hasn’t scored more than ten goals in a season since 2016-17.

Now he does still hit, with 166 hits last season, and he does not have an extensive injury history.

But he’s too slow to be effective with the puck and part of the problem for Tampa last year was that the paring of Corey Perry, Pat Maroon, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare were just too slow as a group.

So if Lucic was brought in he would have to be split away from Pat Maroon and you could convince yourself that a battering ram line of Nick Paul, Tenner Jennot, and Milan Lucic might be effective.

But then you would realize the puck is never going in the net and would just look at your drink frustrated.

Depending on what else the roster looks like there could be a slot for Lucic on the bottom six, but for now we wouldn’t take the risk.