Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
I'm not sure about panic. But certainly Treliving was looking to fill a spot that he expected Brouwer to fill previously. I think the salary is a reflection of Treliving thinking (rightly or wrongly) that Neal was a valued commodity for other teams and that he potentially was in a bidding war. Treliving likes to win those - and IMO that may be his biggest flaw. He's done so on big and small examples: Foo, Czarnik, Neal.
I do believe that there was some essential homework missed on Neal. I don;t know why that happened.
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Neal scored at a decent rate everywhere he played. There was no reason in my opinion that Treliving couldn't have expected that. Plus he has a bit of a nasty edge that the team was missing. On paper, he was exactly what the team needed and I don't blame him at all for signing Neal. It just didn't work out... it happens.
I figured there was a really good chance that he would light it up on another team. Players just don't typically fall off a cliff that quickly.
I still don't mind the trade as it is likely that Neal would still be twisting in the wind if he was on the Flames. At least Lucic adds something and I actually don't think he has been as bad as people are saying. He was involved on a couple of plays that could have been decent chances if his linemates didn't blow it (looking at you last night Sam Bennett).