NHL Free Agency: Oilers offering 7 years, $6.5 million for Milan Lucic

Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is going all in on trying to reunite with free agent Milan Lucic.

To say that the Edmonton Oilers have made a huge splash in the offseason is putting it mildly. Edmonton has built an excellent core of top six forwards through the draft, but their glaring weakness remains in their shaky defense and goaltending.

Newly minted general manager Peter Chiarelli tried to make a splash by offering Edmonton’s biggest trade chip, Taylor Hall, to the New Jersey Devils in an effort to bolster their blue line.

However, when Adam Larsson came back the other way, it left Oilers fans much to be desired, and they got – rightfully – blasted on social media for the deal:

It’s not like the Oilers have never tried to solve their defensive problems. But acquiring guys like Mark Fayne, Andrew Ference, Nikita Nikitin and now Adam Larsson has rubbed their fans the wrong way.

Perhaps Chiarelli is just now realizing the mistake he made, and will try to fill the Taylor Hall void in his lineup by throwing all the money at Milan Lucic. The TSN Insiders reported that the Oilers are one of the teams in on Lucic, likely because of the connection he and Chiarelli had in Boston, and are willing to offer close to a seven-year, $6.5 million contract.

If this deal goes down, Oilers fans should riot. Bob McKenzie nailed it right on the head when he said that the reason he’s a free agent is because he’s experienced wear and tear on his body, and they didn’t even want to offer him a three-year deal. The Kings got a decent season out of him when he scored 20 goals and 55 points, but it’s obvious that he’s not the same player he was before.

After they severely handicapped themselves with the Taylor Hall trade, the Oilers are trying to make amends in free agency. And while teams tend to overpay in free agency, the Oilers always do it, and it’s the reason why they have failed to make the playoffs since 2006.

Somebody needs to stop Peter Chiarelli and the Oilers front office from making yet another monumental mistake, because this really isn’t funny anymore.

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