From my standpoint the argument for Lucic isn't that he is a good player, it's that Neal is just worse than Lucic. I'll be honest prior to last season I didn't think that was possible, but then came Neal and he looked terrible right from the get go.
Lucic is the faster skater, he is better defensively, he way more physical and there offensive abilities are actually pretty comparable.
Neal has nothing left, people can hang there hat on the he wasn't a fit here excuse if they want, but fit doesn't cause your skating, hands and shot to disappear, age does. The thought that he will bounce back because he is training with Roberts this summer also doesn't fly, because he has been doing that since he was 15. He will get to skate with McDavid, well Lucic got bumped off that line because he couldn't keep up, how is the slower Neal supposed to keep up.
I honestly think there is zero chance that Neal scores 20 goals next year and I 100% believe that Lucic is the better and more complete player, even if only by a marginal amount.
If you can get the better player and save money and cap space then you did pretty good in the trade.
I also don't buy the whole argument that Lucic is buyout proof, there is short term pain in buying him for sure, but a buyout of Lucic doesn't sit on the cap (relative speaking) as long as Neal.
|