Quote:
Originally Posted by VilleN
I don’t trust what a lot of the media are saying about this trade. They likely didn’t watch Neal last season. If they had, I don’t think they’d be singing the Oilers praises on this trade. We all saw. We all waited for him to turn it around. He sucked. Every. Single. Game.
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I agree. I think people that are saying the Oilers won this trade are basing it off of reputation. Neal has a reputation of being an elite goal scorer, which isn't the case anymore and hasn't been for sometime now, and Lucic has the reputation of being a bust with Edmonton and being nothing more than a knuckle dragger at this point, which isn't 100% accurate.
When you look closer at the numbers, the offense is much more comparable over the last 3 years, but Lucic shows to have better possession stats, be better defensively and be better physically.
Neal might bounce back and score 20 goals next season, though I doubt it, but he still will manage to drag down whatever line he is on because he is so bad defensively and really doesn't bring anything to the table.