The Boston Bruins are still helping Milan Lucic and his family for the time being, but what would happen to salary cap if the team thought it would be better to cut Lucic’s contract?
Milan Lucic entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment at the Suffolk County Superior Courthouse in Boston on Tuesday, the day he was formally charged with assault and battery on a family member. While the case was pending, he was freed on personal recognizance with a no-abuse order and no alcohol. January 19 was designated as the pre-trial date.
The Boston Bruins public relations staff responded to an email from Boston Hockey Now seeking comment on Lucic’s legal charges with the following statement:
The Boston Bruins have reached out to the Lucic family, extending our condolences and aid. Milan’s decision to enroll in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program is welcomed by the organization. He is still away from the team for an indeterminate period of time. We won’t be able to say further at this time either his ongoing recovery or the judicial proceedings.”
The Bruins have shown unwavering support for Milan Lucic and his family ever since it was announced early on Saturday morning that he had been detained in connection with a domestic violence incident involving his wife.
The Milan Lucic scenario from Friday night is known to the Boston Bruins. Milan has decided to step away from the team indefinitely. The organization will work with the Lucic family to provide them whatever help and assistance they may require because we take these concerns extremely seriously.
That was the team’s original statement late on Saturday morning to the Boston Herald and other news outlets.Prior to his team’s 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Saturday night, Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand stated, “The biggest thing for us is we care a lot about their family.” Here, we are a family. Since we are all very, very close, we are also quite upset and worried about them and what they are going through. We are very much in favor of Brittany, Lucic’s wife, the children, and Lucic. That’s going to be it for the time being out of respect for them.
The Bruins refrained from commenting on the accusations and the arrest, choosing instead to show their support, even when information about the arrest and charges started to surface on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Among the specifics that emerged were his wife’s 911 call claiming that Lucic attempted to choke her.
When questioned on Sunday about the evolving circumstances surrounding his teammate, alternate captain Charlie McAvoy responded, “Right now, it’s all about support for ‘Brit’ [Brittany Lucic], the kids, and Milan himself, and that’s it.”
The team’s official statement from Tuesday night suggests that nothing is imminent regarding Lucic’s contract; nevertheless, because Milan Lucic has been formally charged, they are free to decide to reverse direction and penalize him. They have the authority to punish, halt, or even end Lucic’s $1 million, one-year contract.
A team may choose to end a player’s contract with them if they engage in “conduct detrimental to the best interest of the Club,” according to the “Morality Clause” of the Standard Player Contract (SPC). In order to protect the interests of the Club, the League, or professional hockey in general, each player must “agree to conduct himself on and off the rink according to the highest standards of honesty, morality, fair play, and sportsmanship.”
In the same way that the Los Angeles Kings ended Mike Richards’ contract in 2015 after he was detained at the border for illegally obtaining prescription pharmaceuticals, the Bruins had the option to end Lucic’s contract and avoid having to pay the $781,250 that was outstanding. Since Lucic is still in the Player Assistance program and on long-term injury reserve, they are now exempt from his cap charge. It looks like they won’t be doing anything with his contract for the time being, but they still have the option should they decide to do otherwise.
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