Stats can be used various ways... but to suggest that Neal had better linemates on the Flames than Lucic did with the Oilers is debatable:
Neal's even strength Line Mates and time spent with them:
teammate TOI_tog
MARK.JANKOWSKI 337.2
NOAH.HANIFIN 275.7
RASMUS.ANDERSSON 261.98
SAM.BENNETT 247.05
TJ.BRODIE 239.88
TRAVIS.HAMONIC 213.85
MARK.GIORDANO 208.43
MIKAEL.BACKLUND 159.97
DEREK.RYAN 146.37
OLIVER.KYLINGTON 130.35
JOHNNY.GAUDREAU 106.67
JUUSO.VALIMAKI 105.93
AUSTIN.CZARNIK 105.57
MATTHEW.TKACHUK 101.72
SEAN.MONAHAN 100.53
ANDREW.MANGIAPANE 74.4
MICHAEL.FROLIK 65.65
DILLON.DUBE 59.93
MICHAEL.STONE 59.35
DALTON.PROUT 55.7
ELIAS.LINDHOLM 42.72
OSCAR.FANTENBERG 25.83
ALAN.QUINE 24.1
GARNET.HATHAWAY 7.65
Lucic
teammate TOI_tog
DARNELL.NURSE 332.53
ADAM.LARSSON 327.75
KRIS.RUSSELL 286.23
OSCAR.KLEFBOM 243.35
ZACK.KASSIAN 236.88
KYLE.BRODZIAK 234.32
MATT.BENNING 231.23
RYAN.NUGENT-HOPKINS 211.9
ALEX.CHIASSON 158.25
RYAN.STROME 133.87
JESSE.PULJUJARVI 126.67
LEON.DRAISAITL 119.65
KEVIN.GRAVEL 115.58
CONNOR.MCDAVID 98.57
COLBY.CAVE 87.3
KAILER.YAMAMOTO 85.3
JOSH.CURRIE 79.43
CALEB.JONES 72.12
ANDREJ.SEKERA 71.03
TY.RATTIE 65.42
JASON.GARRISON 63.97
DRAKE.CAGGIULA 55.52
SAM.GAGNER 43.37
BRANDON.MANNING 41.68
JUJHAR.KHAIRA 32.25
EVAN.BOUCHARD 27.08
ALEX.PETROVIC 25.17
COOPER.MARODY 23.63
RYAN.SPOONER 20.83
BRAD.MALONE 16.67
PATRICK.RUSSELL 14.63
CHRIS.WIDEMAN 13.62
TOBIAS.RIEDER 6.07
Maybe it was all Neal's fault but Jankowski is often being added as a sweetener in getting a great return for Brodie.
For what it's worth Nurse is the Oilers best d-man and was leader of shared ice time with Lucic.
Also interesting that with Larsson/Nurse/Kassian Lucic did not spend a lot of time as the lone physical presence. Maybe he made his linemates bigger and tougher. Be interesting if Nurse misses him.
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