The Chicago Blackhawks almost made this very fun signing

The Chicago Blackhawks are in the middle of a very fun off-season. It started when they won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery. That meant they got to draft Connor Bedard with the first overall pick.

Then, they made some key additions through trades and free agency like Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, Corey Perry, and Ryan Donato. It is going to be a very fun year despite the fact that they probably aren’t going to be that good of a team again.

The off-season did come very close to being even more exciting. According to Milan Lucic himself on the Spittin’ Chiclets Podcast, he was close to coming to the Hawks. There was mutual interest from both sides.

He credited the fact that they have Connor Bedard, play in an amazing city, and have one of the nicest sweaters in the league for wanting to play with them. The reason he passed on the opportunity is that he couldn’t miss his chance to make a return to the Boston Bruins.

Milan Lucic thought about coming to play for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Of course, Lucic played the first eight years of his career with the Bruins. He then had some years with the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames. It was his chance to go back to the place he became a very good NHL power forward and he took it.

In the interview, he brought up that Bedard was a kid from Vancouver, British Columbia. That is also where Lucic is from so he is hoping that Bedard is the next great thing to come from his hometown. It would have been cool to see them skate in the NHL together.

Lucic will return to a Boston Bruins team that had the best regular season in the history of the league last year.

However, their center depth is taking a big hit this off-season so most expect them to come down just a tad, especially after losing in the first round in one of the biggest upsets in NHL history. Still, the Boston faithful will be excited to have him back.

It sure would have been fun to see him in a Chicago Blackhawks uniform though. He likes to get rough on the ice and it is incredibly entertaining to watch. Seeing him on a fourth line with guys like Nick Foligno and Corey Perry would have been great.

It also would make people think twice about messing with Bedard in his rookie season. Unfortunately, it won’t happen this year.

This is good news still though. It is clear that Bedard is attractive to free agents. With him in the mix, the Hawks might be able to land some good players in the coming years if they are looking to spend. When the time is right, that will be a big key.