Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdonkey
I’m of the opinion that he could’ve done better but panicked and caved because he was desperate to get rid of a problem he was told he couldn’t buy out.
I’m pissed about the trade but it’s hard for me to lay it all at Treliving’s feet. He doesn’t seem thrilled about it himself. I’m more upset that once again it seems like the team is being hamstrung because of interference from the likes of King and Edwards.
I don’t think the issue of cap floor takers is relevant at all. Nobody is taking on Lucic, especially if he continues to decline into being a borderline player. He is our problem for the next 4 years no matter what, in my opinion. Oilers fans knew this too, which is why they were so happy to see him out the door.
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This is not an example of the team being 'Hamstrung' by ownership. It is very normal for owners to have limits on how much money they'll spend on buyouts. Swapping Neal for Lucic does not hinder the team in the least, it's a wash at worst. If ownership would have allowed Tre to buyout Neal, I'm sure he would have... but then again, how much dead cap do you want?
This trade gives us more cap space, that is really the net from this trade. Stop thinking about a buyout, it wasn't going to happen. It was Neal for 4 more years at 5.75m per or Lucic for 4 more years at 5.25 per. And after the season Neal had and the healthy scratch in the playoffs, my guess is Neal asked to be moved. So if you're the GM you have a player who grossly underperformed, and likely wants a change of scenery. You know you have to move the asset and you know his contract is near unmovable. So yeah, it makes a lot of sense to make a deal like this.
Had he not made this deal we'd be going into the season with a useless fwd who can only play top 6 minutes to be effective, and doesn't want to be here. He'd be taking a spot from our younger guys, preventing their development. Or the coach could sit him, play a rookie instead - now it's costing us around 6.65m to have Neal on the roster.
I understand not liking this trade but what was Tre really supposed to do? Hope for a rebound season? We saw Neal play last year... I kept believing he would turn it around, but there was never a sign that that would happen. I'm sure management saw that too, and didn't want to risk having Neal drag the team down, again. Then you have a much worse situation, Neal would literally be unmovable at that point - if he isn't scoring he is not an NHL player. Lucic still is.