Milan Lucic still recovering from wrist surgery

Milan Lucic takes part in training camp drills. Photo by Ted Fitzgerald

Boston Bruins training camp is under way and Milan Lucic is still recovering from offseason wrist surgery. Lucic suffered the injury during Game 7 of the 2014 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Montreal Canadiens. Lucic wore a cast over his left wrist and thumb for 12 weeks this summer and was not able to perform upper body exercise.

The big question everyone seems to be asking is will Lucic be ready for the regular season? The inability for the Vancouver native to perform upper body workouts this offseason may limit his offensive potential. According to a recent NESN article by Nicholas Goss, Lucic said "just seeing my progression over the last two weeks, its been good". While this is positive news, it may take some time for the big left winger to feel comfortable in a game situation and his early season numbers could suffer.

Lucic is taking the right approach, however, and is not going to rush back until he feels ready. This means number 17 for the black and gold will most likely be absent from at least the first couple of preseason games.

Another aspect to this injury is how it will affect Lucic's physical game. The Bruins' power-forward is one of the most feared players in the NHL and is at his best when he combines his skill and intimidation. With this injury, Lucic will have to restrain himself from fighting and post-whistle scrums or risk re-injury. This may take the fire out of Lucic's game at times and force him to depend purely on finesse.

It will be interesting to see how Lucic plays whenever he does step onto the ice. Early signs indicate Lucic is recovering nicely, but a slow start would not be a big surprise.