[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Like I said, Neal was a career 20 goal man. Every year. And as for stories saying it was good news:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ames/36563771/

Neal has topped 20 goals in each of his 10 NHL seasons, and was considered the top player left on the free-agent market a day after the NHL's signing period opened.

https://thehockeywriters.com/james-n...-with-calgary/

Neal is a lock to score 20 goals and there were few players in free agency anyone could say that about. He had 25 goals and 44 points in 71 games with the Vegas Golden Knights last season then added six goals and 11 points in 20 games during their run to the Stanley Cup Final. He’s played for winning organizations like Pittsburgh, Nashville, Vegas and Dallas and he’s a veteran with proven playoff experience. Regardless of who he plays with, he’ll put the puck in the back of the net.

https://theathletic.com/419273/2018/...ions-up-front/

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...er-james-neal/

https://fansided.com/2018/07/02/calg...s-stanley-cup/

https://www.thesportster.com/news/ca...mes-neal-sign/

Thought I’d look through these for fun. Stopped after the first one, a USA Today article by an unnamed writer that offers no opinion on the quality of the signing at all.

At the time , like with every free against signing, people wrote about the player signed and what he brought to the table. Neal was a consistent goal scorer, no doubt about it. But to say “experts” thought it was a shrewd move is overstating it IMO. Neal’s reputation was extremely well known and it was always high risk winning a bidding war for player like that at his age.

I will give Treliving credit for sticking to his philosophy of building a team through veteran UFA signings. I wonder if any team has embraced it more?