Quote:
Originally Posted by The Yen Man
I'd argue unless Flames were willing to package draft picks to go along with Neal, the only other options would have been worse than Lucic. At least Lucic fills a sort of need for the Flames in terms of overall team toughness. Can you imagine Loui Eriksson on that 3rd line? Would just be Neal all over again.
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That was exactly it.
You could trade Neal for another one-dimensional goal scorer that hasn't worked out yet.
Okposo, Eriksson, etc
Or you could trade him for Lucic who maybe was worse offensively actually but would fit a role in our bottom 6.
The issue with the trade from day 1 wasn't the players involved IMO, but the team they were making the deal with.
Neal always had the chance to produce more playing on the top Edmonton PP with Draisaitl and McDavid, guys like Kassian/Chiasson had proved that anybody can produce in that spot, and an in-shape James Neal is still better than those guys.
So the issue with the deal was less about what Calgary was giving up, or even getting in return, but the issue was always that it had the potential to make Edmonton stronger.