With the help of the NHL\/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, he regained sobriety, attempted his playing comeback<\/a> last season at age 37, and now looks ahead to a life watching the game from far above the surface.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving a supportive wife who helped me through it, supported me through it and pushed me in a good way \u2026 that helped it all,\u201d mused Lucic. \u201cI\u2019m thankful that things are better than ever as a family \u2014 as a husband and a father. Everything, I guess, happens for a reason, and something\u2019s that really great is that she didn\u2019t punish me. She helped me through it. That\u2019s a really great part.\u201d<\/p>\n His months-long stay in Fife also added some perspective. Lucic went there late last year after the Blues released him from a brief AHL stint in Springfield, thinking perhaps the UK\u2019s EIHL was a way to land another NHL playing contract. <\/p>\n In fairly short order, no doubt with the coaxing of some 16-hour roundtrip bus rides on game days, he realized he no longer had the physical or psychological will.<\/p>\n \u201cIt had nothing to do with the team or my teammates, coaches, the staff, the fans, or anything. It just felt like it wasn\u2019t as much fun going to the rink as it used to be,\u201c he said. \u201dI mean, that\u2019s why Father Time is undefeated, right? Unless you\u2019re Zdeno [Chara] who plays \u2018til he\u2019s 45, or Tom Brady \u2014 some of the best in their positions to do it as long as they did. But Father Time catches up to everyone. I\u2019m just happy and grateful that I got to do what I did as long as I did.\u201d<\/p>\n The career line on the menacing Lucic: 1,177 regular-season games, 233 goals, 586 points, 1,301 penalty minutes, and that Stanley Cup ring in the spring of 2011 with the Bruins<\/a>. He was dealt in the summer of 2015<\/a>, then newly anointed general manager Don Sweeney in a scramble to find payroll relief and add speed \u2014 elements in play here in perpetuity.<\/p>\n It was the following summer, as he became an unrestricted free agent, that ended up being Lucic\u2019s first step toward his scouting gig. He ultimately signed the richest deal of his career \u2014 seven years, $42 million<\/a> \u2014 in Edmonton, where ex-Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli was the new boss.<\/p>\n According to Lucic, he turned down an even richer deal that July, placed on the table by then Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin. With the mere stroke of a pen, the then 28-year-old Lucic could have signed on for a long stay just 300 miles to the north, suiting up on the other side of the decades-long, oft-tempestuous Boston-Montreal rivalry. (Beat man\u2019s aside: Why, why, why can we not \u2026 have \u2026 nice \u2026 things?!)<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d made the trade for [Shea] Weber, I knew Carey Price a little bit, and obviously, I had a really good relationship with Brendan Gallagher,\u201d said Lucic, recalling the enticements of that 2016 Habs roster. \u201cI thought long and hard about joining them \u2026 Western Leaguers, all of them, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n In the end, said Lucic, he simply couldn\u2019t bear the thought of being on that other side.<\/p>\n \u201cI just couldn\u2019t see myself pulling on that Habs jersey,\u201c he said. \u201dThat\u2019s nothing against the Habs, you know, one of the greatest, if not the most historic, organizations in the league. And I love playing for an Original Six team, but at the end of the day, it was the rivalry, and I guess my loyalty to the Bruins.\u201d <\/p>\n Lucic and Bergevin remained in contact over the ensuing 10 years. Dismissed as Montreal general manager in November 2021, Bergevin was hired in Buffalo amid the front office changeover that began there in December of this past season<\/a>. Bergevin is now GM Jarmo Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\u2019s associate. <\/p>\n As Lucic was coming to the realization in Scotland his playing days were at an end, he reconnected with Bergevin, ultimately leading to the job offer as a scout.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really funny,\u201d Lucic recalled. \u201cHe brought it up and I said, \u2018Oh, I still want to play.\u2019 That was my first response. Then kind of halfway through me being in Scotland, I started to realize that, you know, maybe I\u2019m done playing, and the conversation picked up again from there.\u201d<\/p>\n As the weekend approached, Lucic said he remained uncertain about where he and the family will make their new home. An obvious top contender is Vancouver, British Columbia, where he grew up and where he and his wife still have lots of extended family and friends. <\/p>\n He\u2019s certain to be back this way from time to time, because Lucic said he\u2019s already told the Bruins alumni team<\/a> he intends to pull on that familiar Black and Gold sweater for their charity games \u2014 none of those planned to be played in Montreal any time soon. <\/p>\n COACH MATTERS<\/p>\n Arvidsson reconnects with McLellan in Detroit<\/p>\n During his zoom session with Detroit media upon signing as an unrestricted free agent Wednesday with the Red Wings, Viktor Arvidsson confirmed the immediate suspicion here that reuniting with coach Todd McLellan was a large part of the allure in joining the Winged Wheels.<\/p>\n \u201cI really like playing under Todd,\u201d noted Arvidsson, who played three seasons for the Kings with McLellan as the bench boss. \u201cIt was an easy decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Arvidsson, who turned 33 in April, signed a two-year deal with a $5 million average annual value, a $1 million per year boost over the deal the winger brought to Boston from Edmonton<\/a>. Detroit will be his third port of call in three seasons.<\/p>\n Compared to a number of deals signed over recent days, pre- and post-July 1 free agency, Arvidsson\u2019s salary looks middle-of-the-road to modest. He ran hot for the Bruins in the second half last season, finished with 25 goals, and would have been a comfortable payroll fit for the Bruins for a $5 million annual renewal. <\/p>\n Per Sweeney, talks with Arvidsson diminished considerably once the Bruins surrendered a pair of Round 1 draft picks<\/a> for winger JJ Peterka, adding a $7.7 million AAV to the books. Sweeney last weekend told me acquiring Peterka did not preclude bringing Arvidsson back, but he changed that tune by Wednesday evening. Available dollars grew thin, said the GM.<\/p>\n Arvidsson, who found a perfect running mate\/distributor in Bruins center Pavel Zacha, now possibly will ride on a line with speedy Dylan Larkin, provided Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman opts not to honor the captain\u2019s standing trade request<\/a>. The chances of Stevie Y accommodating him will grow considerably, in theory, if Larkin expands the list of cities he\u2019d be willing to accept a move to in a swap. <\/p>\n \u201cWe meshed together really well,\u201d Arvidsson told Detroit media, referring to his chemistry with Zacha, who had Casey Mittelstadt to his left.<\/p>\n As the holiday weekend commenced, Larkin, 29, remained on the Red Wings\u2019 books for four more years at $8.7 million per season. Following the roster resets that occurred<\/a> Wednesday, clubs with sincere interest in Larkin could be fewer, by virtue of their salary cap space diminishing via free agent hires.<\/p>\n In his first two years under McLellan\u2019s tutelage, Arvidsson averaged 23 goals. He was on pace for slightly more his last season in Los Angeles, but injury limited him to 18 games.<\/p>\n He sees \u201ca little bit of old school\u201d in McLellan\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s really structured,\u201d added Arvidsson, speaking from his offseason home in Sweden, \u201cand always has a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n ETC.<\/p>\n Schnitzel for Peterka, pretzels for Sturm<\/p>\n Peterka was home in Munich last weekend when he chatted via teleconference with Boston media.<\/p>\n When asked his go-to food choice upon returning home after a season shuffling around 32 North American cities, he said: \u201cSchnitzel<\/a>. I like a good schnitzel \u2014 especially in Germany.\u201d <\/p>\n For those in need of some culinary coaching up, schnitzel is a thin slice of meat (veal, pork, chicken etc.) coated in a batter and fried. No ketchup allowed. Fries optional.<\/p>\n Bruins coach Marco Sturm, when asked the same \u201cfoodie\u201d question during his stop at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton a couple of days earlier, identified pretzels<\/a> as his No. 1 food choice once returning to Deutschland. <\/p>\n \u201cBest with some mustard,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n All of the Sturms, family of four (Marco, wife Astrid, son Mason and daughter Kaydie), will head to Dingolfing (Marco\u2019s hometown in Bavaria<\/a>) for a month-long vacation this summer. <\/p>\n \u201cThe first question the kids ask is, \u2018OK, how long?\u2019 \u201d said a smiling Sturm, noting that Mason and Kaydie have good friends in Florida and Boston, which can make their time in Europe feel like an eternity. \u201cWe think it\u2019s important for them to spend time there.\u201d <\/p>\n Mason and Kaydie, though born in North America, speak both English and German. Mason is a rising junior at Bowdoin and Kaydie a rising sophomore at UMass Boston. <\/p>\n According to a proud dad, Mason also speaks Mandarin, a language he took up in school during the family\u2019s brief time in Vancouver at the start of the 2011-12 season. When Marco was traded to the Panthers in October 2011, the kids ultimately resumed school in Broward County, Fla., where Mason continued his Mandarin studies.<\/p>\n \u201cSo much easier for young kids to get it, right?\u201d noted Marco. \u201cHis German is perfect, and his Mandarin is really good.\u201d<\/p>\n After telling Rangers fans in January it was time for yet another roster reset, New York made budding superstar Pavel Dorofeyev the center of that overhaul. Dorofeyev, with 37 goals last season, was deemed pricey, redundant baggage in that superstar-laden Golden Knights lineup. The Rangers are hoping that he is the Artemi Panarin equivalent<\/a> of the overhaul, and they rolled out the cash (seven years\/$77 million) in lockstep with the aspiration. GM Chris Drury also dealt off veteran pivot Vincent Trocheck to acquire defenseman Sean Durzi ($6 million AAV) from the Mammoth \u2014 part of the backline rework that enabled the Rangers to ship Will Borgen, another right-shot blue liner<\/a>, to the Bruins \u2026 The long weekend kicked off with a dozen or more high-profile free agents, most in the 30-plus age bracket, yet to find UFA landing spots. The one to catch my eye, yet again, was winger Patrick Kane, whose roster spot in Detroit, his home the last three seasons, belongs to Arvidsson. Kane will be 38 in November and his production last season dipped to 16-41\u201357 (3 points ahead of Arvidsson, by the way). Last season, Kane made $3 million. Per puckpedia.com<\/a> calculations, the Bruins have $5.4 million in elbow room, which should be enough to offer Kane something close to what he made last season with a Red Wings club that missed the postseason for a 10th consecutive time. Still some murmurings around the Sabres that Kane could be headed to his hometown Buffalo for his career swan song. The surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer has 508 career goals and 1,400 points. Still electrifying in small bursts, Kane has appeared in but 16 playoff games the last 10 seasons \u2026 Defenseman Connor Clifton wasn\u2019t calculating a Boston redux when he agreed earlier in the offseason to rent the downtown condo he still owns to Bruins winger Alex Steeves<\/a> for the upcoming season. \u201cCliffy\u201d now has to find new digs for three, including wife and young child \u2026 Bruins short-timer Erik Haula this fall will be pulling on the eighth NHL sweater of his long (840 games) career. The forward landed a two-year, $7.2 million deal with the Kings, adding the crown sweater to his other threads from the Wild, Golden Knights, Hurricanes, Panthers, Predators, Bruins, and Devils. Haula remains an effective faceoff performer, which was what led then Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald to bring him to Newark in July 2022 in the one-for-one swap for Zacha \u2026 Newly acquired Joonas Korpisalo should be Igor Shesterkin\u2019s backup with the Rangers. If it\u2019s not the ex-Bruin, New York will look to deal out \u201cKorpy\u201d and promote Dylan Garand, a 2020 draft pick (No. 103) who has toiled the last four seasons with AHL Hartford \u2026 We noted during the week the Bruins might consider taking a stab at adding a low-cost veteran NHL stopper for insurance, in case the Michael DiPietro promotion proves premature. Potential candidate: Cam Talbot, 38, who appeared in 81 games for the Red Wings over the last two years \u2026 Nice late-career haul for former Bruins forward Jeffrey Viel, whose playoff work with Anaheim caught the eye of the Lightning and landed him a five-year, $12.5 million guarantee. It took Viel, 29, seven years of pounding his way though the minors to land his first big pay day. He\u2019ll earn his pay, maybe at the rate of a buck a stitch, when Tampa Bay squares off with those cross-state Panthers ruffians.<\/p>\n![\"Milan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2XC2OHAP45GW7GSXGYASA2MP7A.jpg\")
Milan Lucic traded blows with Mike Komisarek more than once as a Bruin and had no intention of wearing the Canadiens colors after leaving Boston.ADAM HUNGER<\/p>\n![\"Viktor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CUYDXKDJJRHENUX7I5YLPFB6WU.jpg\")
Viktor Arvidsson signed with the Red Wings after putting up 25 goals and 29 assists in his one season with the Bruins.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\"Marco](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/D5XCO2BHH445V5U3YWWORAVTUM.jpg\")
Marco Sturm will be able to call out in German to new winger JJ Peterka when he opens a second training camp as Bruins coach.John Tlumacki\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\"Pavel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/VX4RXPT5LZDTXVQPWUKLBNUSBY.jpg\")
Pavel Dorofeyev brings career totals of 92 goals and 57 assists to the Rangers from his 231 games over five seasons with the Golden Knights.Lindsey Wasson\/Associated Press<\/p>\n