Dreger On NBCSN: Chiarelli Is Not Trading Milan Lucic
BOSTON (CBS) - Everyone on the Bruins -- top to bottom -- is on edge, and rightfully so after the comments made by new CEO Charlie Jacobs earlier this week.
In his first order of business, Jacobs called the current state of the team unacceptable. He went on to say the evaluation process is "fluid" and hinted that changes could be made.
That message apparently wasn't lost on the players, who came out in Pittsburgh Wednesday and played well enough to land a 3-2 win in overtime, ending a three-game losing streak in the process.
During the first intermission, Darren Dreger said something very interesting.
Dreger, who is to the NHL what Adam Schefter is to the NFL, said on NBCSN that as long as Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli is at the helm, then left winger Milan Lucic isn't going anywhere. Dreger also said that the GM and head coach Claude Julien are feeling the heat following Jacobs' comments the other day.
98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich had on CSNNE's Joe Haggerty Thursday morning for a discussion of all things Bruins, including Dreger's assertion from the previous night.
"I have not heard one iota of Milan Lucic being moved anywhere," Haggerty said. "I know the Bruins are sort of at a crossroads: Lucic is going to be a free agent after next year, he's making $6 million per season now and he's going to want a long-term deal with big dollars, and get taken care of like David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask were."
Haggs adds that Lucic will be 28 when his contract is up at the end of next season, and the Bruins are going to have to weigh the decision of handing a seven or eight year contract to a guy who plays a very physical, bruising style.
"I think [Lucic] is so locked in to who this team is when they're successful, and who they want to be, if they trade him they'll lose their identity, or a big part of it," said Haggs.
"Unless they had a ready-made solution for him, a younger player who they think can be the next Milan Lucic, or they traded him for some kind of player that will be such an upgrade that they have to think about doing it, I don't think he'll get moved either. I buy those reports."
Should Peter Chiarelli be willing to explore trading Milan Lucic if it will improve the team? Which Bruins player is most at risk of getting moved?
Listen below for the full conversation:
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