Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Long term I think it was still the right move. And I also believe that the stats are going to fall into a more normal and expected place.
I continue to believe that Edmonton will not come out better at the end of the day. I don't think Neal will move the needle on their success this year. And going forward it's going to get worse, not better, for them.
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Neal has already done more to move the needle on success for them than Lucic did last year. Does that mean they are a playoff team? No, probably not. That said, we can try to dismiss their 5-1 start due to the combination of good luck and the fact that their schedule was buttery soft, but they were still winning the games that teams aspiring to improve should be winning.
If Neal scores at his usual 11-12% rate from here on out, he's going to be a 20-25 goal scorer. In other words, exactly what we signed him to be. People are kidding themselves if they don't think that stings.
There's no surprise in the attitude though. We all want and need Neal to fail because it would help reduce the sting of voluntarily taking on a guy who has no chance to succeed. Lucic just isn't an NHL calibre player any more. And literally the only positives we can invent for him is the thought that the other team's goon didn't run around because of his presence - even though said goon scored a goal and was +3.