[Signing] Flames sign James Neal (5 years, 5.75 AAV)

[Snuffleupagus]

Can I change my vote? initially I was just worried about the term, now I'm terrified

[bigrangy]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Neal's stick was open, not sure what Gaudreau was waiting for

His stick was wide open, except he had it about 2 feet in the air.


Good Ontariah boy like Neal should know that he's gotta keep his stick on the ice.

[Flash Walken]

0.19 points per game.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

0.19 points per game.

He is a dressing room guy.

[Thor]

The worst part is he's not finding chemistry with those he's partnered with and he has no business being tried up on the top 2 lines.

So what do you do with a guy like that?

[Poe969]

He's still good but every good player needs a kick in the butt sometimes. Sit him for a game and let him see the team from a different perspective, it worked on other players.

I still like him and I'm happy he's on the team, he just needs a shake up IMO

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

His stick was wide open, except he had it about 2 feet in the air.


Good Ontariah boy like Neal should know that he's gotta keep his stick on the ice.

Yes, don't know what he was thinking there. IIRC, he was maybe 8 feet away, at most, from Gaudreau and his stick was in the air. You need to put your stick on the ice to provide a target and to get a wrister off quickly once the pass comes. He shouldn't be looking for a one-timer slapshot in such a small area.

[tvp2003]

Ward needs to devise a plan on PP2 to get him some looks on the right side (where Ryan is currently playing). Then get pucks on net from the point or the left side, or possibly a cross ice pass if it’s there.

I actually don’t know what the current strategy is but it's not like it’s working thus far.

[Tyler]

Two aspects at play here for James:

1) He's still sulking because he isn't on the 1st line
2) He's got 35 million guaranteed reasons to not be overly concerned about his lack of production

[442scotty]

Put Neal on waivers and send him to Stockton. And pray another team claims him (doubtful)

[Toonage]

Let Neal play his way through this if he can, hope his play/experience is an asset in the playoffs, reassess in the off season.

Or trade him back to Vegas. Either or.

[442scotty]

Burke and others high up in the hockey world seem to think that he will get going. I sure hope so but I wouldn’t bet any serious coin on it. Another senior cashing in for retirement (albeit at a frightening early age)

[flylock shox]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Let Neal play his way through this if he can, hope his play/experience is an asset in the playoffs, reassess in the off season.

Or trade him back to Vegas. Either or.

How about for Reaves, with salary retained...?



There's something about Reaves that makes me think he'd be a great addition for the Flames.

[Toonage]

Reaves was inches away from being a Flame this past summer. Neal was just as close to going back to Vegas. Its weird.

Its not a trade that on the surface looks like it would make a ton of sense for the teams or the players, and yet it probably would make a ton of sense for the teams and the players.

[gamesaver]

Neal is definitelly the biggest disappoitment so far. But two weaks earlier everyone thought that would be Mike Smith, including myself. People thought he is done forever, but now it's safe to say he managed to turn it around. He is almost at .900 and has won 5 in a row. So I suggest to be more patient with Neal. We have the luxury to do that considering our position in standings.

[goodyear]

Should have signed Neal to a 5 by $5.75M
two way deal! (semi green text)

Sent from my EML-L09 using Tapatalk

[Joborule]

We poop on Lucic up north, but we got our own big money dud in Neal.

It's nice to be paying almost 6 million to a player that gets chances. Too bad chances don't equal goals on the scoreboard.

He's paid to score goals, and he's not doing that. When the first line isn't producing, this is when the team needs to rely on Neal to do so. He hasn't been fulfilling his role at all, but luckily the team has been able to carry on without him just fine. So it hasn't hurt the team aside from the pocketbook

But if there's a stretch when the team falters a bit and offense dries up, then Neal is going to get a lot more heat if he isn't producing by then.

[Bingo]

I thought Neal had a great game against Nashville ... one of his best two or three of the season. And I thought he had his worst game last night in Edmonton.

Not a good sign for sure, but hopefully the chemistry we saw in the Minny and Nashville games with Jankowski and Mangipane continue this week.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Joborule

We poop on Lucic up north, but we got our own big money dud in Neal.

It's nice to be paying almost 6 million to a player that gets chances. Too bad chances don't equal goals on the scoreboard.

He's paid to score goals, and he's not doing that. When the first line isn't producing, this is when the team needs to rely on Neal to do so. He hasn't been fulfilling his role at all, but luckily the team has been able to carry on without him just fine. So it hasn't hurt the team aside from the pocketbook

But if there's a stretch when the team falters a bit and offense dries up, then Neal is going to get a lot more heat if he isn't producing by then.

Personally, Neal could never score again and I would still rather have him than Lucic.

[Vinny01]

Neal played late the past couple seasons right to the cup final. Wouldn’t shock me if he took it a little easier this summer but he is 30+ now so not as easy to recover and bounce back.

I am sure he is happier being on a first place team with bad numbers than a bottom feeder team with his typical numbers. I do think it could be time to try him in the top 6 again.