Controversial Former Boston Bruin Earns Another Shot to Return to the NHL

Drafted in the second round of the 2006 draft by the Boston Bruins, off-ice legal troubles cut Milan Lucic's return to the Bruins during the 2023-2024 season extremely short and forced him to miss all of last season as well.

At 6-foot-3 and 236-pounds, Milan Lucic was one of the most feared players during the majority of his career. Not only was he a punishing hitter, and never afraid to drop the gloves, but he also had a unique ability to contribute offensively and carved out a role for himself in the Bruins' top-six, often skating with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, winning a Stanley Cup in 2011.

Unfortunately for Lucic, as the game got faster and he got older, he found himself shuffled to the bottom of lineups and into the press boxes in Los Angeles, Calgary and Edmonton before returning to Boston on a one-year deal ahead of the 2023-2024 season.

Lucic's personal and off-ice life disappointingly cut his return to Boston short, limiting him to just 4 games before he took an indefinite leave of absence to deal with those issues.

After almost two years away, the 37-year-old is looking to make a comeback, signing a PTO with the St. Louis Blues ahead of training camp next month.

Having been away from the NHL for almost two seasons, it will be interesting to see if the Vancouver native has been able to change his style of play enough to earn a contract or if he is brought in to solely be the Blues' enforcer.

Regardless of how it plays out, we hope that he has finally gotten the help he needed while away from the game and can become a redemption story.