Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
Well it should be remembered that Neal's contract is easier for a team to get out of due to the fact that it is easier to buyout and there are no restrictive clauses like a no trade or no move and no signing bonuses to complicate the buyout. So after this season he can be erased for a 1.91 million dollar cap hit for the next 4 seasons...not too different than the kick to the junk that the Flames took for Troy Brouwer.
Now if you absolutely are forced to keep the player no matter what...yeah Lucic at least offers some things that can be used in the bottom 6. I don't want to jinx it...but he's looking better handling the puck and shooting it this year. If he can put up 30 points in an 80 game season playing a bottom 6 role, and not be a deficiency in 5 on 5 play, he's a guy who has a place in the league albeit at a lower rate. But James Neal...at best a part time guy who comes into the lineup on occasion if a scorer is injured.
Hopefully Lucic can have a Dustin Brown like resurgence where he's not the player he once was, but after looking like he was completely finished find a way to come back and be a meaningful contributor for a couple of seasons.
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You have to add the $750k they retained into that though. So it's $2.66mln for 2 years and $1.9 for an additional 2 years. Amd the Flames got a 3rd, which has value.