Quote:
Originally Posted by DazzlinDino
Unfortunately they committed too much for Neal before seeing what they had. Neal himself admitted he came to camp out of shape giving the impression he would be better the next season. Flames scouting missed the boat on Brouwer and Neal. Both these players really set the franchise back. I honestly believe Treliving thought they were nice guys and they probably gave him the impression they could give a lot more. Both appeared to be winding down much like we see with Lucic. Brouwer likely was the wrong player for Bennett. That whole time line including coaching was messed up.
|
I think with Neal, for some reason they looked at counting stats, and past team success with him. And Neal had very similar years with two different teams, so I don't know that he appeared to be winding down. He was a model of consistency, especially goal scoring. They never looked off ice at Neal. I heard things in hindsight which they maybe could have found out ahead of time.
Brouwer was an overpay for a good PO year. But it was an early mistake by a newbie GM.