Quote:
Originally Posted by TheScorpion
I don't think Neal should be written off at all. In the worst shooting percentage season of his career, he was on pace for 10 goals and 25 points in an injury-battered season. He needs to be better in every way but there were so many things working against him, and those figures are still well above replacement-level.
Even in his worst season, he had more goals than Connor Brown, too. Not saying Neal is better, but there are things to consider here.
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This is a very good point. There's no way the Flames are going to be able to trade Neal after the season he just had anyways. They should just hope he enters camp in excellent physical condition, plays better, and has better puck luck this coming season. I think it might also be helpful to play him with players with better pace. If you put him with Mangiapane and Ryan, then he has faster players with some playmaking ability.
Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - Backlund - Bennett
Mangiapane - Ryan - Neal
Jankowski - Quine - Dube
LW - C - Czarnik