Flames hoping an old coach can help Milan Lucic find his game

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Cap hit in the first three, and specifically year one and three are rough, but then years four and six are nonexistent.

Neal is $2M straight through.

Totals are close to the same with Edmonton taking a hit for part of Lucic's buyout though.

Totals mean absolutely nothing to fans though. The cap hit is what is crucial and buying him out while still have $5M against the cap is brutal and not something that would be done with Neal.

Having said that I don’t see the Flames stomaching 6 years of payouts for Neal so they moved him while they could and even if Lucic can’t play an offensive role anymore he can be an extremely overpaid goon which is a role the organization values.

[Robbob]

I also don't think any team has the appetite or willing to buyout a 4 or 5 year contract. If it was a compliance buy out, maybe, but with the cap penalties it isn't worth it. Sure Lucic's contract is harder to buy-out, which just means that probably would not be the route a team would go ig things don't work out. IF it came to this point it would be easier for the Flames to retain 50%. With the Oilers holding 12%, if the Flames ate the other 38%, we are talking dead space hit 2.25ish for what is left. If they can retain more (I don't recall if it is 50% of the original contract or if they can take 50% of the 5.25), but Lucic at 3M or less wouldn't need a big of a sweetener or negative contract coming back.

[jlh2640]

Let’s stop with the creative ideas of buy outs and trading him conversation until next off season shall we. Let’s see what he can do here before we throw him under the bus like we live to do to many players. I get it. He was beyond terrible in Edmonton. But he’s a flame now. So he’s already better.

[Robbob]

Yeah it all just mental gymnastics right now. Just off season fodder. The season can't start soon enough.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by jlh2640

Let’s stop with the creative ideas of buy outs and trading him conversation until next off season shall we. Let’s see what he can do here before we throw him under the bus like we live to do to many players. I get it. He was beyond terrible in Edmonton. But he’s a flame now. So he’s already better.

Yeah it's time to start ticking off the remaining years on his contract. Let's hope for a productive season this year, as this should be as competitive a team as possible and he could actually have a positive impact. A good year this year and the remaining contract doesn't look as bad either.

[Monahammer]

I would, personally, rather just keep Lucic even at a bloated cap hit to face punch people for the remainder of his career. Sure it's too much money, but at least the oil are paying for part of it.

If he punches (or even shoves) just one person, he will already be more impactful than James Neal. That makes this trade a total win. The oil are paying more for a more useless player.

Plus I have a feeling that if it gets really bad for lucic, there's much more precedence for him retiring on permanent IR for his back problems. I don't see any realistic scenario for that happening with Neal (and I think his ego is way too big to come even close.)

[Split98]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1166370048295882752


Dude is excited
Dude is slooooow