Former NHL forward Milan Lucic has signed with the Fife Flyers of Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League, the club announced Thursday, a move that has prompted backlash in Scotland.
The 37-year-old Vancouver native played 1,177 regular-season games in the NHL and won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011. He also played for the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
Lucic was charged in 2023 in connection with an alleged domestic incident involving his wife, Brittany Carnegie, but prosecutors later dropped the case after she declined to testify, making it impossible to proceed.
Scottish media reported Thursday that the signing has drawn criticism from domestic abuse advocates and coincided with the resignations of two Fife Flyers officials.
Scottish Women’s Aid said the club was sending the wrong message by signing Lucic. A spokesperson told STV News that “clubs employing players who have been accused of violence against women send out the wrong message,” adding that sport has a significant influence on people’s lives.
Fife Flyers chief operating officer Gareth Chalmers announced his resignation last week, citing disagreement with the club’s direction following recent developments involving the team.
In a post on social media, Chalmers said he could not “sacrifice personal and professional integrity for decisions I am opposed to,” but did not refer to the Lucic signing directly.
Media consultant Craig Anderson also stepped away from the club after less than three months in the role. In a post on X, Anderson said he could no longer support the direction the club was headed, though he did not mention Lucic by name.
Lucic had recently been with the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliate in Springfield on a professional tryout. He recorded one assist in five games with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
He last played in the NHL in 2023 and was reinstated earlier this year after completing the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.
Lucic will wear No. 8 with the Flyers, pending completion of paperwork, the team said.
The Flyers, founded in 1938 and the oldest operational ice hockey team in the United Kingdom, were last in the 10-team British Elite Ice Hockey League heading into Thursday’s games.
The Lucic signing comes amid heightened scrutiny of off-ice conduct in British ice hockey.
The BBC reported this week that Sheffield Steelers forward Clifford Pu was released by the team after pleading guilty to two counts of assault on a woman. The club said Pu, of Richmond Hill, Ont., was no longer associated with the team.
