Article content continued

As you will recall, in late July Lucic gave an interview to Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, where Lucic said the following: “To be honest, it’s been great ever since I’ve been there (in Edmonton). As you know Whitter, the organization treats you like gold… I gotta say, the Oilers will literally do whatever you want and give you whatever you need in order to succeed.”

Asked what he had to do to get back his game, Lucic said: “For me it’s just mentally having fun going to the rink again and mentally looking forward to the challenges we face as a team and as an athlete every single day, where I think my mindset got very negative last year. So I was almost my own worst enemy, where this year I’m just going in with a happy, healthier mindset. I think that’ll help me get back to the player I am and I think when you’re playing with the best player in the world, you know, it gives you a vote of confidence to try and step up and not let him down. I think we’re all feeling that and we all had fun in the 2016-17 season so we want to get back to being that team and winning on a nightly basis. … If anything getting into this year, just more focused on being mentally healthy and mentally happy and, like you said, I’m a proud person and I’ve been doing everything I can to make sure that I bounce back and be the best player I can be for Oilers this upcoming season.”

In the end, Lucic sounds committed to going full steam ahead as an Oiler. Me, I don’t expect he’s more than a third line player, a 35-to-40 point guy, but I’m also OK with that kind of Lucic for a few years, given the physical force he also is and so long as his attitude and defensive play are outstanding. The Oilers can win with that kind of Lucic.