Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSam
Don't forget who the coach is in Greaserville. Dave - defence first - Tippett. I would think his demand for knowing where your defensive zone is will be significantly more than Peters. I am not sure The Real Deal will be up to it. This will be interesting.
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James Neal broke into the NHL under Dave Tippet in Dallas in 08-09, where he scored 24 goals. So there is a relationship already. It’s where he earned his moniker “Real Deal”.
He’ll likely score 20+. A fire hydrant playing with McDavid would do likewise. And it totally doesn’t matter, because regardless of if he was a locker room cancer or not, the relationship between Neal and Peters was “over”. You were never going to see him in the top 6, and you were never getting anything else out of him in a red jersey. That’s fine. I’ll take the high third rounder should it turn into a runaway.
To be able to trade him with less salary coming back is a win. Period. Addition by subtraction, and you can’t really argue otherwise, unless you were willing to fire Peters, and see if he could succeed under a new coach.
Lucic sucks. But at least he’s not a player who’s at loggerheads with the coach. I have no other expectation than that for him in terms of success. Even if he winds up in the press box most nights... you’re paying less money for it.
I’ll take it.