Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
The Flames are allowed to spend to the cap every year. The owners aren't tying his hands. They're allowed to say not to a eight year buy out.
I'm sure Treliving talked to all 30 teams, he has that reputation.
His option wasn't to get better. It was to take the only deal he had or not. Those are the options.
The evaluation of Treliving in this case isn't this trade, it's signing Neal in the first place.
I don't see the Oilers heavily advantaged in risk reward. Neal does one thing; score goals. The age curve says he is less likely to do that through years 2-5 of this deal as he moves into his mid 30s. From what we saw last year he may never get back to those levels. He can't play any other role. His ceiling is higher in the short term, but his floor is much much lower.
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I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree about the floor being that much lower. You seem to value Lucic as a player far more heavily than I do. I don’t base my valuations on advanced stats or number tracking the way you do, I base them on my limited viewings, and the evaluations of the fan base who watched him most - and in this case Oilers fans have consistently labelled him as a guy who would probably struggle to keep up in the AHL. Which I would largely agree with based on what I’ve seen of him in Edmonton rags.
Could Treliving have done better in this negotiation? I think he could’ve, had he waited out the clock. The worst case is you miss the boat, waive Neal or tell him to stay home, replace him with a guy from the farm, and you’re really no further ahead. But I think this is unlikely as Holland was also extremely motivated to make a deal, and had more to gain in doing so. He may have been willing to add proper value to make it happen.
Perhaps the core of our disagreement here is whether or not you believe Lucic has anything to contribute. I don’t. I think he’s a slow, inconsequential tough guy who will primarily only deal with other tough guys for show, and he will only get worse with time.