Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
The entirety of last year was his chance to rebound. The entirety of last season was Neal’s chance to salvage his trade value.
He very rightly was not given another chance because he had showed zero indication during his time here that “rebounding” was even a possibility.
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There may have been other factors. There was some mention that he was not seeing eye to eye with the coach. This is not helpful to the coach and a distraction to getting the team on the same page... "if one guy is deliberately showing his disapproval on and off the ice". I don't think it was just a matter of him not playing in the top six but the added philosophical differences with the coach. An interesting question, Did the "Neal factor" affect the teams performance during the playoffs? I am guessing it was more of a wedge and factor. Hard for the team to sustain momentum if certain players are unhinged, coasting and being a distraction.