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Left wing Milan Lucic’s one-season stint with the Kings officially ended Friday, only minutes after the NHL’s free-agency signing period began. Lucic signed a seven-year, $42-million contract with the Edmonton Oilers as an unrestricted free agent.
In the end, and as expected, the deal was too rich and too lengthy for the Kings, who have salary-cap issues. The Kings reportedly made a final run at re-signing Lucic, placing defenseman Matt Greene on buyout waivers Thursday in order to clear more cap space.
Lucic scored 20 goals and 55 points last season for the Kings, who acquired him last summer from the Boston Bruins in exchange for backup goaltender Martin Jones, prospect Colin Miller and a first-round pick in the just-completed draft.
The 28-year-old Lucic is the second free agent to depart for Edmonton after the Kings used a first-round pick to complete a trade in as many seasons, joining defenseman Andrej Sekera. The Oilers signed Sekera to a six-season, $33-million contract last year.
Lucic will be reunited in Edmonton with general manager Peter Chiarelli. The pair were in Boston together when the Bruins won the 2011 Stanley Cup championship, and Lucic will be a key figure in the Oilers’ attempts to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
The Kings, Oilers, Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks were among the teams courting Lucic, who will get a chance to play alongside Connor McDavid in a new downtown arena in Edmonton. He turned down a chance to play in Vancouver, his hometown, but only an hour flight from Edmonton.
“It basically came down to the McDavid factor,” Lucic said during an interview on the NHL Network. “From what I saw just from one season, just as an 18-year-old, was something special. I think with him you can see light at the end of the tunnel.
“With a special player like that, it’s inevitable that he’s going to do something great. That was something I wanted to be a part of it and it’s something that helped my decision. Being with Peter in Boston and what he was able to do … and my loyalty to him made the ultimate decision.
The Oilers have stockpiled talented young players in recent seasons, but haven’t advanced to the playoffs since appearing in the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. Lucic is expected to replace Taylor Hall on left wing after Hall was traded Wednesday to the New Jersey Devils.
Lucic was in the final season of a three-year, $18-million deal he signed with the Bruins in 2013. He scored 159 goals and 397 points in 647 games in the NHL with the Bruins and Kings, but will move into a new role as a mentor and protector for the 19-year-old McDavid with the Oilers.
“I’m just excited to get going and see what we can do moving forward,” Lucic said.
The Kings also lost defenseman Jamie McBain, who signed a one-season contract with the Arizona Coyotes.
The Kings signed backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff to a two-year, $1.8-million contract and defensemen Tom Gilbert ($1.4 million) and Zach Trotman ($650,000) and forwards Michael Latta ($600,000) and Teddy Purcell ($1.6 million) to one-season deals.
Zatkoff was the Kings’ third-round draft pick (74th overall) in 2006. Zatkoff, a 29-year-old Detroit native, was 4-7-1 with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in 14 games last season with the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
Greene cleared waivers Friday, and the Kings declined to buy him out of his contract.
The Kings’ anticipated salary-cap hit for next season was $784,393 over the NHL’s $73-million salary cap, according to the website generalfanager.com, after Friday’s signings and the decision to retain Greene, who has two seasons and $5 million left on his contract.