Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
How many goals does Neal have to score to avoid being bought out eventually?
Say they do play him on the top line and he scores 22 goals. That means someone like Chiasson drops down a line and he would be lucky to put up the 15 goals that Kassian was allowed to do in that role and so forth. If he scores 22 this year, and than goes down to 18 the next year, and goal scoring is his game, is it enough to keep him?
Go back to the after the Allstar game in 2018, than all of last year. He has 10 goals in 86 regular season games. The signs of a decline are clearly there, and he will be 32 when the season starts. When the Flames signed him I figured they would be lucky to get 100 goals from Neal in 5 years, and that was contingent on him getting 25 or so in the first year. So really would 75 goals in the next 4 years be enough...probably not.
That all said, the Flames will be lucky to get 40 from Lucic.
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I think 20ish goals for Neal is fine to not necessitate a buy out. His historicals show him as a 20-goal guy after all, and not much more than that, so to say he needs more than that to not force a buy out isn't valid for me.
While he had a horrendous year last season, I wouldn't say the signs of a decline are clear yet. If he has another season like the last though, I'll agree.