Quote:
Originally Posted by MolsonInBothHands
With hindsight, it's hard to argue what you say about Raymond and Brouwer. However, most people thought Neale would be the one on the first line and few, if any predicted the Lindholm explosion.
With the team playing as well as it is right now, the team has the luxury of not relying on Neale to be a game changer. Depth is a luxury, and we have it. Enjoy it.
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Yeah, I honestly didn't know Lindholm would be so effective on RW. I always just thought of him as a center and assumed Neal would be a top 6 RW. We can't break up the top line obviously, but if Neal was on that line, I am sure he would be more productive than he has been in the bottom 6. Maybe not as productive as Lindholm, but I really do think Neal's lack of scoring has to do with his ice time. He isn't an overly creative player, but he can finish when playing with top talent.
I am really glad that we have him as depth. It sucks for him that he hasn't found consistency where he is, but when wear and tear of the season shows, I am hopeful that having a low mileage Neal waiting to pick up the slack will show dividends when it counts.