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View Poll Results: What do you think of the trade after a week of getting your head around it?
Love it, think Lucic is an upgrade 109 16.80%
Like it, clears some cap space even if Lucic is no better 197 30.35%
Indifferent, both teams getting a failed project 187 28.81%
Dislike it, Neal needed another year to bounce back 107 16.49%
Hate it, Neal will be better in Edmonton 49 7.55%
Voters: 649. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 08-11-2019, 07:44 PM   #2821
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It's interesting how players who are on the ice with these guys have a pretty different take than fans about another player.

The guys out there that have dealt with lucic dont consider him useless at all.
I agree to a certain extent but publicly there is not much else they can say.
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Old 08-11-2019, 08:08 PM   #2822
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I actually expect Lucic to get some reps throughout the lineup, including the top line. I mean, it literally can't be any worse than giving Neal some reps on the top line last season, right?



I do expect Lucic to primarily stick to the 4th line - maybe the 3rd line. Bottom 6 for sure, at any rate. However, with Peters and his famous 'blender', I just think you will see Lucic on the top line once in a while. I am actually curious to see how he does when given a bit of rope there.



What I am most interested in is if Peters is really going to stick Lindholm at centre. That will leave a rotating spot on the top line - Bennett, Mangiapane, Dube, Frolik (if he is still here), Lucic.. maybe even Tkachuk, though I didn't like the look of that line while he was on it.



Either way, I am betting that Lucic hits at least 20 points this year (he will at least match last year's totals as the Oilers score less, and his linemates were unquestionably worse last year). How much opportunity he ends up getting will come about from how well he ends up doing and also how badly Gaudreau is being targetted by opposing teams on a game-by-game situation. I think Lucic's speed will surprise some people on here - it is an upgrade over Neal's.
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Old 09-30-2019, 08:35 PM   #2823
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https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...give/?shawct=1

Just saw this interview with Lucic on Sportsnet and he's growing on me! When I first heard about the trade I didn't feel at all good about it. However, now I've seen his attitude and work ethic through the pre-season I have changed my mind. Him scoring against the Oliers on Saturday was just awesome. I hope he continues to impress through the regular season. Let's face it, he won't have to do much to be an improvement on 'not the real deal'
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Old 10-01-2019, 07:33 AM   #2824
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So, I am in a draft with a bunch of Oilers fans, and for the last few years I have been taunting any one of them to take Lucic.
Picks are happening tonight, and my last pick will be Lucic. Should be hilarious.
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Old 10-01-2019, 09:02 AM   #2825
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So, I am in a draft with a bunch of Oilers fans, and for the last few years I have been taunting any one of them to take Lucic.
Picks are happening tonight, and my last pick will be Lucic. Should be hilarious.
I hope your league has scoring for PIMs lol
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Old 10-01-2019, 09:21 AM   #2826
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So, I am in a draft with a bunch of Oilers fans, and for the last few years I have been taunting any one of them to take Lucic.
Picks are happening tonight, and my last pick will be Lucic. Should be hilarious.
Lol this is a great long-con on all of them. Extra points when Lucic is not your worst performer over the season.
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Old 10-01-2019, 10:35 AM   #2827
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once you're picking in the range over 100th ranked players, who cares, I'm hoping they plug Lucic in front of the goal on the second PP unit, and he has 25 goals bounce in off him.
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Old 10-02-2019, 11:43 AM   #2828
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Lol this is a great long-con on all of them. Extra points when Lucic is not your worst performer over the season.
If Lucic is not your worst fantasy player scoring wise, you team isn't very good.
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Old 10-02-2019, 12:08 PM   #2829
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If Lucic is not your worst fantasy player scoring wise, you team isn't very good.
Once you get into the really late rounds all teams have players that would score in the lower range. Definitely feasible for a good fantasy team to have Lucic not be their worst player, specifically if PIMs and +/- are used.
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Old 10-02-2019, 12:18 PM   #2830
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Once you get into the really late rounds all teams have players that would score in the lower range. Definitely feasible for a good fantasy team to have Lucic not be their worst player, specifically if PIMs and +/- are used.
Clearly if PIM are in play Lucic's value goes up.

it would have to be a very deep league where you are drafting guys who project as 4th liners.

If there are 30 teams participating and each is drafting 20 players, sure.

In my fantasy book, they have over 300 guys projected to get 30 points or more, not including goalie picks.
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Old 10-02-2019, 12:29 PM   #2831
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I picked Lucic last in my draft as well. My draft uses hits and penalty minutes in the point system though.
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Old 10-09-2019, 08:16 AM   #2832
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Neal is leading the league in goal scoring with 6 goals in 3 games.

The Flames were too deep. Neal was used to playing with top-6 players and the Flames wanted him to carry his own line.

Likely messed him up in the room as he obviously thought and was likely told he would be playing with Monahan/Gaudreau and at least Tkachuk/Backlund.

Neal might have defaulted into the #2 RW this year had he stayed on the Flames but we will never know.

The Flames needed the extra cap space that the Lucic/Neal trade brought to avoid buying out Frolik.
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Old 10-09-2019, 08:23 AM   #2833
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Jankowski also scored 4 goals in a game. I guess the 30 other GMs are stupid for NOT trading for Jankowski.

Bennett too.

Joke of a take man.
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Old 10-09-2019, 08:32 AM   #2834
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Yeah Lucic is #16 ranked in the whole league in my fantasy right now because of Hits and PIMs.
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Old 10-09-2019, 08:48 AM   #2835
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Jankowski also scored 4 goals in a game. I guess the 30 other GMs are stupid for NOT trading for Jankowski.

Bennett too.

Joke of a take man.
A team that was not as deep as the Flames and could give Jankowski or Bennett a legit shot at with top-6 line mates would be all over this.

What would the Flames want in return?

If the Flames were willing to take your worst contract for $750k retained there would be a long line of teams willing to take Jankowski and Bennett back in return.
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Old 10-09-2019, 08:54 AM   #2836
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A team that was not as deep as the Flames and could give Jankowski or Bennett a legit shot at with top-6 line mates would be all over this.

What would the Flames want in return?

If the Flames were willing to take your worst contract for $750k retained there would be a long line of teams willing to take Jankowski and Bennett back in return.
Man my sarcasm meter is just out of wack. I can't tell if you are making a sarcastic point about the Flames being deep or not.
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Old 10-09-2019, 08:58 AM   #2837
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Neal is leading the league in goal scoring with 6 goals in 3 games.

The Flames were too deep. Neal was used to playing with top-6 players and the Flames wanted him to carry his own line.

Likely messed him up in the room as he obviously thought and was likely told he would be playing with Monahan/Gaudreau and at least Tkachuk/Backlund.

Neal might have defaulted into the #2 RW this year had he stayed on the Flames but we will never know.

The Flames needed the extra cap space that the Lucic/Neal trade brought to avoid buying out Frolik.
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Old 10-09-2019, 09:11 AM   #2838
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Neal was a failed experiment in Calgary, and it sounds like he and Smith (who are very close) could have been distractions in the room. Whereas Lucic has been a positive in the room.

I feel he was told he would get a shot with Gaudreau, but Lindholm was started n the top line to help Monahan with faceoffs following wrist surgery.
Once Lindholm was given the top line RW spot and shone, Neal was going to have a hard time fitting in. He needs players to feed him the puck, which Gaudreau could have done well. He didn't fit well on the 2nd line, especially as that line often takes the tough matchups and it is hard to hide him with favourable ice time.
At that point, he becomes a 3rd line forward, and is not getting line drivers to elevate him, but rather is expected to drive a line. And that did not work.

In hindsight, it could have been tried more; Neal on top line, moving Lindholm to Backlund's wing. But that top line just played so well together and it is hard to break up a successful unit.

For the Oilers, if Neal scores more than Lucic, or is bought out to save cap. they win the deal on their end. They needed a winger to play with their top centres and score.

For the Flames, scoring goals from the top 6 was not the problem - it was the second PP and adding some physicality to their bottom 6 (that won't be a liability). For that role, Lucic is overpaid, but he is much more suited than Neal. The Flames win this deal if they outperform last year. The main thing they lose is the ability to buy out the deal, but with Brouwer being bought out, my guess is the Flames brass balked at a Neal buyout. If you have to be stuck with one, at least Lucic seems so far to be less of a negative, and time will tell what he can add.

Chalk it up as a bad UFA signing and move on. As for the trade it could well end up being win-win. I get that we don't want to help out a rival, but this team is in a contention window, and cannot afford to ride out a costly mistake.
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Old 10-09-2019, 09:54 AM   #2839
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To a tee, this is what I had anticipated. Lucic has looked better as a Flame than Neal ever did.

And as expected, Neal is having way more success playing with McDavid and Draisaitl than Jankowski and Bennett. Obviously didn't expect 6 goals in his first 3 games though.

He's just one of weirdest players you'll ever see. Completely useless everywhere else on the ice and can't do anything himself. But the second that he has some time and space, he can bury the puck in the back of the net. Looking at all the goals he has scored up to date, he's basically been wide open on all of them where he has a chance to unleash his shot.

But when he's expected to be the driver of a line, he's completely useless as you just stick a man on him and he's neutralized. Not fast or strong enough to get around defensemen, but when you have McDavid and Draisaitl getting all the double teams, it's been easy for him to hide, get open in a dangerous area of the ice.


Won't lie though, helping out the Oilers does not leave a good taste in the mouth regardless if we receive a 3rd out of it. I would've traded him anywhere else for anything else before helping out the Oilers. if Tre still wanted Milan Lucic, hey that's fine, just make sure you get 50% retention and a couple 1st rounders out of it.
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Old 10-09-2019, 10:03 AM   #2840
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Neal can shoot the puck. Always has always will. There should be no surprise, and guys who can shoot the puck are going to pop some goals playing with McDavid, Nuge and Draisatl.

Last year Rattie was being pumped up in training camp for the same reason.. didn't last the long haul. And make no mistake, the first few games arent a heck of a lot different than pre-season games as far as understanding long term trends. Chiasson has scored over 20 with them.

At the end of the day, the constant trend will always be McDavid and Draisatl. Until they find some players that score without their help, on different lines, long term they really aren't better.

Neal put up plenty of points with Crosby and Malkin. He has offensive gifts that allow him to finish off plays set up by top talents. But then he moved on, and Crosby and Malkin kept scoring. He's not making them better, or driving play. Its just a different allocation of points. throughout the roster, and perhaps allows more defensive abled players to fill a better role in Edmonton, rather than just riding shot gun... which is kind of what Neal's skillset allows him to be.

Let Neal have the spot light for a few days, but it doesn't mean a lot in terms of analyzing James Neal. The right fit didn't exist in Calgary. He was outplayed for the coveted top two line spots, and he wasn't a fit in Calgary with the role he had.

The Flames saved a pile of real cash in the deal, which actually does matter to league owners, and that money is spent in other areas. The immediate benefit is not as obvious as Neal is playing with those guys, but we need to look beyond the raw stats of Neal/Lucic, as it was quite obvious that was never going to be the benefit of the deal. That is why there is a draft pick contingency in the deal that goes the Flames way after Neal taps in a few goals with McDavid.

The goals will slow down. The Oilers will still have trouble in bottom 6 scoring, team defense, penalty killing, and goaltending. Neal helps zero in those key areas. Lets let the season play out rather than jump off ledges after 3 rando early season games.
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