Quote:
Originally Posted by Toonage
This is going to be a fascinating off season when it comes to James Neal.
He was brought in for 5 years to provide
- veteran leadership
- playoff experience
- grit
- consistent goal scoring
The leadership part is maybe the only one we can't say assuredly that he didn't deliver on as we aren't around the team. Playoff experience is an intangible but he doesn't seem to be lending anything that resembles it.
What do they do? Obvious answer is bring him back next season and see if he regains any semblance of his former self. They gave Brouwer 2 years after all.
But does James Neal even want to come back? He never seemed happy here. He thought he'd be getting top line minutes. Even if he did his play all but guaranteed he wouldn't stay there. I'm not sure Peters is a fan of his at all.
You can't buy him out. Even with his lack of trade protection who is going to take that on? Can't imagine what Treliving is thinking right now.
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Guess I just might have to accept that Neal may just be going the way of Lucic.
