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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While I agree with you that there is reason for hope that Neal will improve (and that is really the only option since trading him would be too expensive) I don’t know 10 goal pace Neal is above replacement level. The disengaged Neal we saw was pretty useless if not producing.
I don’t really know if things were working against him but I do believe there is a lot of pride there. And while I don’t agree with waiting to the last game to healthy scratch the guy, it might just be something that spurs him into having the offseason he needs.
30 goal Neal would be a boon to this team.