Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I don't dislike Neal. Obviously I don't want him to succeed in Edmonton but I feel regardless of my feelings on the matter it's probably going to happen at least in the first year or two. I just feel some of you are in a state of denial about him. Brad Treliving never signed Neal for his play away from the puck 5 on 5. He signed him to be that elusive winger that could put the puck in the net as he's done his entire career. Obviously in year one things didn't work as planned but at least early he's back on track as the player he has always been. Many of you keep bringing up his 5 on 5 play, powerplay goals, skating, etc, etc ignoring the fact that like many one dimensional forwards he gets paid to score goals and he's doing that right now and there's no reason to believe that he's going to drift back to the player he was for the Flames last year as he's not the first player ever to have a bad season and bounce back to career norms.
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Well, that is simply false. There are several pointedly valid reasons to expect James Neal to drift back to being an ineffective winger that can't score, skate, nor do anything particularly useful in games. The reason his 5v5 play, his outrageously unsustainable early powerplay success, and his continuously poor fundamentals remain in focus is precisely because they point directly to a regression on the horizon.