To me, Neal gets the same leash that Hamilton and Hamonic got. They both weren't up to par the 1st season, but ended up being huge pieces afterwards. I'll admit however, I still get flashbacks of T-Bro who talked about having a better 2nd season, but never transpired.
Having said that, I think Neal is on a completely different tier then Brouwer. It's not like it's from lack of effort, while Brouwer seemed to mail it in regularly. Neal is getting chances, but I haven't seen a player snake-bitten like him in years. Pucks regularly bouncing over his stick the moment he shoots. Wide open nets flubbed. One-timers that aren't elevated. Brouwer was a player who was able to cash in from a great post season with St. Louis. Neal has a reputation for consistently being productive, outside of this season.
I do think he'll come around come playoff time and will end up being our "deadline acquisition".
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