I think Oiler fans are being quite vocal about this trade because let's face it, they haven't had a reason to be excited about a trade in years. When was the last time they made a big trade like this and actually came out on top and had something to gloat about? This is their big moment to shine. Even though it's been only 1 week into the season, you'd better believe they are going to hang onto this with every muscle in their bodies.
Even if Neal wasn't traded and was still a Flame, does anybody really think he'd be producing at this pace? He'd likely be buried in the bottom 6 and moping around. Let's not forget he was ''praying for a trade'', so it's not like he'd be busting his ass here to turn things around.
I get why their fans are happy to have finally had a trade work out for them. But it's not like the Flames lost a big piece of the puzzle. It's funny watching them make fun of us for trying to spin things and justify the trade after years of making fun of Lucic's contract. And to a certain extent they are right. But it's also true on our end; it was addition by subtraction to trade Neal and it has absolutely zero effect on the team's depth scoring-wise.
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