Bruins Reveal Important Reason Why Lucic Is Still Under Contract

The forward immediately entered the NHL's player assistance program following news of his arrest.

Notably, the player's assistance program has a mandatory minimum of 30 days before players are allowed to leave. It is believed that the Bruins are waiting for this mandatory stay to expire before they terminate his contract. Once a player is no longer in the NHL for any reason, i.e. retirement, they are no longer eligible to receive any benefits from the league, including the player's assistance program. As such, this is likely why the Bruins have yet to terminate his contract.

It is also possible that the team is awaiting the results of Lucic's trial. He has in fact pleaded not guilty and he did deny his wife's claims when police arrived at their home. Perhaps the team is hoping to keep him around on the off chance he is found not guilty by a jury.

Furthermore, the NHL is the only major pro sports league in North America that does not have an official domestic violence policy. As such, the Bruins have no legal responsibility to act on Lucic's contract at this time.

The 35-year-old has played in 1177 career NHL games, recording 233 goals and 586 points in that span. At this point it seems unlikely that he will ever play in the league again, but that is not certain at this point. We will likely have to wait for the results of his trial to come out before we know his fate in the league for sure.

As seen on The reason behind Milan Lucic's contract not being terminated has been revealed