Milan Lucic says he’ll listen to what hometown Canucks have to say in free agency

It’s been 16 years since Milan Lucic tallied 30 goals and 38 assists as a member of his hometown Vancouver Giants in the WHL. He could find himself with a chance to return to Vancouver this offseason, as for just the second time in his NHL career, Lucic is slated to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

On Tuesday, the 34-year-old left winger joined Don Taylor and Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali — The Team to talk about a number of topics. Among them was whether or not Lucic would consider signing with his hometown Canucks.

“I haven’t really gone over it too much just yet with my agents because I’ve been in Europe just focusing on winning the World Championships,” said Lucic. “To be honest, these last two days, I’ve just been kind of soaking that all in but now that you mentioned it, I’m gonna have to go through all my options and see what’s the best fit for me.

“One of the reasons why I did want to go to the World Championships was because I wanted to have fun playing hockey again. I knew we’re gonna have a good chance to win and I wanted to have fun being on a winning team again. To me, a lot of that will go into my you know, decision as a UFA. First off I have to see what my options are and then go from there.

“And obviously, you know, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. It’s always a dream for a hometown boy to play for his hometown team. So, you know, I’ll definitely listen to what they had to say if they came calling.”

Canucks fans appear to be split on whether or not the team should pursue Lucic this offseason. He’d come in at a low dollar value, so some would love to add his toughness to this roster as the 12th or 13th forward. Others can’t forgive Lucic for his public negative comments about the city he’s from.

After an altercation at a Vancouver bar in 2013, Lucic said the following:

“I have no reason left to try and defend my city, and the people of my city,” Lucic told reporters in Boston on Monday. “Other than being at Rogers Arena, no one will ever see me in downtown Vancouver ever again.”

A year earlier, a Serbian Orthodox church in Burnaby connected to Lucic’s family was vandalized. Lucic has also claimed that his grandparents have been harassed at Rogers Arena in the past.