Quote:
Originally Posted by TheScorpion
Just slot Neal on the third line to start and give him a shot to continue his progress from the end of the regular season last year. If he fails, maybe try Ryan there?
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I've seen people talk about Neal's "progress" at the end of last season, but I think it's revisionist...
Outside of a 3-game road trip to California (end of March, 4 points) and a 3 game streak at the very beginning of February, Neal was pretty terrible in 2019.
He only recorded points in 9/24 games he played (9/29 if you include his terrible playoff performance.)
It was so bad that he was healthy scratched in our last playoff game. I can't stress how terrible that is for what he was supposed to bring in.
It's disingenuous to say Neal made anything resembling "progress" at any point last season. His scoring seems to get better the further south he travels, and I don't think that's necessarily a coincidence. Unless he comes into camp a new man, with new motivation and a willingness to get over himself and play more of a role, I severely doubt his ability to hang on the third line.