2013 Report Card: Milan Lucic

2013 Milan Lucic may not have had the scoring touch of years past, but after a slow start (Lucic did not play anywhere competitively during the lockout) and an extensive "Lucic is so fat" meme, he got things going and managed seven goals and 20 assists. That number was good for fifth in team scoring, behind only the Bergeron line and his own linemate David Krejci. Lucic, by the end of the season, had worked his way up to being fourth in CorsiRel at 11.3 (among players with over 10GP); this was also good for 53rd in the league, tied with Toronto's Nazem Kadri.

Lucic sustained a fairly average shooting percentage, and didn't get into penalty trouble any more frequently than any other year. He fought a little more frequently this year than in previous years, though; with five fights in 46 games, he was on pace for more fisticuffs than any season of his since 2008-2009.

HIs most notable highlight this year was probably his ownage of Alexei Emelin:

ow.

In the postseason, Lucic finally seemed in peak shape. He was more disciplined, taking only 14PIMs through 22 games. (fun fact: he, Horton, and David Krejci all had the same number of postseason PIMs this year. RIP HuLK line.) Compared to the 2011 postseason run, where he had 63 PIMs through 25 games, that's an impressive turnaround. Lucic scored as many goals in the postseason as he did in the regular season, and only had eight fewer assists; he outscored his 2011 playoff self by seven points. His PDO took a huge turn for the better from regular season to playoffs, as well.

Verdict: B+

If you average out his regular season performance (not awful, not great) and his postseason performance (pretty damn awesome) I think this is a pretty fair grade.