Don't think your getting Hall for 8.5.

Ya, probably not lol

If you ask me, Couturier is THE untouchable player on this team.
No Trade.....

Or... Lucic can be scratched all season & still collect the paycheck
There’s no way he’s retiring

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportingnews.com/us/amp/nhl/news/flames-milan-lucic-considered-retiring-after-november-benching-it-just-wasnt-fun-for-me-anymore/18rr2nk22fqmg1d7a4eotdv3k0

He's already made 50+ million before taxes.

If it goes down the road of him being scratched constantly and being miserable he's going to be contemplating if the extra money is really worth it.

If they don't make the playoffs this year, there might be some hard conversations Lucic needs to have with himself, his family, and Flames management about which route they're going down moving forward.

And yet he chose not to walk away from the $5mil paycheck
A guy walking away from $15mil is hard to imagine,
very hard

It is definitely more likely he sticks it out for another season or 2 then retires. He'll probably be asked to waive his NMC for the expansion draft too.

He receives 3M of the 4M owed next season in July(signing bonus)

In 2021 he receives 2.5M of the 5M owed in July(Signing bonus)

Then the final year he receives 3M of the 4M owed in July(signing bonus)

If he were to retire following the 2020/2021 season after receiving his Signing Bonus for the 2021/2022 season, he would leave 2 years of his contract not played, while only leaving 6.5M on the table.

So if he retires with 2 seasons remaining on his contract after collecting his Signing Bonus in the off season. He'll only have played 5 years on a 7 year 42M contract, while still earning 35.5M.

An early retirement is a likely outcome, just whether it's with 2 or 1 years remaining is the question. Obviously a lot of things need to be factored in that haven't happened yet.

If the Flames somehow miraculously go on a playoff run and can win a few rounds with him being a contributor, then the team and his outlook might look a bit more positive moving forward.

An early retirement is “possible” not “likely”
And definitely not something u can count on for sure

You think hes going to stick it out for that final year of his contract?

Potentially being a healthy scratch for most of the year, but still doing all of the travel and spending tons of time away from his family just to practice hockey, so he can make that extra 1M remaining on his 42M contract?

OR

He retires after collecting his final signing bonus, doesn't play the final year, and makes 41M out of the total 42M.

It is highly unlikely he plays the final season, not just "possible"

Skipping out on the last 1mil, the last year... sure. That u could call likely
But your team above has him retiring this offseason,
leaving a ton of $$$ on the table
That is VERY UNLIKELY imo

It's definitely wishful thinking for an off season armchair team. It isn't completely out in left field though as far as Lucic retiring.

The fact he already expressed he was contemplating retirement not even half way through his first season in Calgary, when he only got benched during a third period (not even healthy scratched), puts it in the realm of possibility.

As I mentioned if they miss the playoffs this season, Treliving and Lucic might have a sit down and see where each party is at moving forward. Unfortunately his contract significantly affects the team cap wise moving forward compared to what he brings, and he's fully aware of that.

If Tre tells him straight up there might be players taking his spot in the line up over the course of next season, he'll have something to seriously contemplate.

He isn't going to want to be that dude on the team that isn't worth giving 4th line minutes too, but is just hanging around the team going through the motions to collect his massive pay cheques. Judging by his personality, I highly doubt he wants to be looked at by his teammates as "that guy".

Be all that as it may...
I’ll still bet he wants that paycheck. Especially if he has to do nothing to get it
It’s a lot of $$$ to walk away from
Almost never happens

I think guys are starting to realize they can retire early, live good for the rest of their life and not have to worry about money because they already have 8 figures in the bank account. They have more money than the average person will ever make over working for 45 years.

He's still got a role to play of being a tough guy and needing to fight to bring value. That's not an easy thing to get up and br expected to do every other day.

If he had some major injury where he could just stay on LTIR for the rest of his contract then he'd for sure stick it out.

How much physical play & fighting will be expected of him while he’s sitting in the press box?
He’s not gonna throw all that $$$ away dude

I get it
I’m a Sabres fan & we are hoping Okposo will retire so we aren’t stuck with his $6mil Cap hit
But there’s no way these guys are walking away from large sums of $$$
It just isn’t happening

Okposo has also talked about possible early retirement earlier this year because of his concussion problems.

I think people are going to be surprised at how many more guys are going to start walking away early from contact sports. Leaving money on the table for their health and happiness.

Okposo’s concussions are a bit different
Is Lucic suffering from some injuries?
Then maybe I’d understand it...
But he’d go on LTIR most likely then, not retire

Just think some common folk like yourself, needs to understand what earning 50M+ actually means as far as life achievements go.

Okposo has earned about 10M less than Lucic at this point, and he's still a player the Sabres have some hope for as it's their signed player. If he gets shipped off and a team says they're done with him he'll feel differently about just showing up.

The major difference is Okposo isn't going anywhere, and if he does he's probably on his last string.

Totally different situations

If players we’re actually walking away from 10mil +,
then maybe you’d have some validity to your thoughts about Lucic simply retiring
Until then... it’s just wishful thinking on your part dude

Buff just walked away from almost 15M.

Think guys will be considering it more in the future if they're checked out. Lucic might not want to be going out there once every 5 or 6 games just to be expected to play super physical and potentially fight guys.

This year it probably isn't very likely, but after next season I don't think it's that far off from being a legitimate possibility.

1) no he didn’t. Buff is on LTIR, getting his FULL salary
2) and reports that he & WIN were working to dissolve his contract were based on him going somewhere else to play,
not just retire
*look to what happened in Buffalo with Bogosian for example

Could something like that happen with Lucic?
It’s possible
Just far from likely

And it’s extremely wishful thinking on your part to predict it would actually happen