Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
I understand why that looks crazy. And I will stipulate to the fact he has played badly and that he doesn't deserve to be there. But assuming you are going to play him, IMO Neal has been miscast. Even when he plays with jam (which he has to some degree), he ends up being the guy behind the net passing to Jankowski or Bennett in front, exactly opposite of how he's been successful.
So, again, if you are going to play Neal, who will be work out best with - it's Gaudreau and either Bennett or Lindholm IMO. Gaudreau to pass, the centre to dig and be defensive and also another scoring/passing option. And like I said, is that combination going to produce less than G-M-L? Is it going to defend worse? I don't think so.
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He's too slow. And it's not just his foot speed, it's his hands too. We are no better off with him than with Brouwer or Jagr, and it's a bigger cap hit for a longer time. He should be sitting. There is nowhere in the lineup he slots in where someone else is not giving the team more. Why build up depth if we aren't going to use it? Give Neal an ultimatum in the offseason to do serious conditioning work and see if he can recover his game next season.