James Neal Buyout

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by FBI

Oh man David Jones.. there was a name I was trying to forget

You are not allowed to do that

Can’t forget that he and Forever a Shane O’Brien were the haul for Alex Tanguay and Cory Sarich ! It allowed the Flames to get bigger on the front end and younger

[Calgary4LIfe]

@deluxe (can't quote):


That's what I mean, sorry I wasn't more clear. I meant Lindholm had basically the same ending to a season (from what I remember anyway), but it didn't send a red-flag. I remember noticing that and not liking that fact at the time of the trade myself, but he really worked out. Perhaps Treliving (and/or the pro-scout + analytics department) didn't pay as much attention to it with Neal.



I do mostly agree with your point of view, however. I really like the Coleman signing - I really do. However, I can't but feel a bit apprehensive about it as well, and that's directly because of Raymond, Brouwer, Neal and Hamonic (though Hamonic was a trade, but the point is that the Flames identified him as a player to acquire).



Neal was the worst player I have seen in a Flaming C since I started following this team from day one, and you have to scratch your head and wonder how the heck that happened. It wasn't a year or two into that contract, or even months - it was basically right away. I don't know what the rationale was for signing him, but I hope the pro-scouting is an area that this organization has been working on. They definitely got some players right, but they also got some really wrong.

[DeluxeMoustache]

^ I’m hoping for Coleman to be less like those guys and more like a Hudler, just less, um, fun off the ice

[Jiri Hrdina]

I think Coleman could be similar to a Glencross signing.
Though he was a total steal for what his salary was.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think Coleman could be similar to a Glencross signing.
Though he was a total steal for what his salary was.

He did everything you would want from a middle 6er.

Flames scooped him up (haha, Oilers), get several good years, and cut bait at the right time

I think Coleman has a bit more upside, but Glenny did have a really good year or two

[JackIsBack]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

and cut bait at the right time

Glencross wanted to be captain and basically went downhill when he didn't get it, the disappointment seemed to poison his play.

I'm happy with the Coleman signing, but was excited about the Neal signing as well, so what does my opinion mean - I was so wrong about Neal.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by JackIsBack

Glencross wanted to be captain and basically went downhill when he didn't get it, the disappointment seemed to poison his play.

I'm happy with the Coleman signing, but was excited about the Neal signing as well, so what does my opinion mean - I was so wrong about Neal.

Interesting, I didn’t realize the C was that big of a thing to him. As good as he was for his role, his career success was pretty much here only

Being a C is kind of a really big deal

Re: Coleman, we all are looking for the best outcome with the new guys, we are optimists!

Also, the Flames aren’t paying us millions of dollars to choose the right guys

[dino7c]

I think some of you are about to be shocked how good Coleman is

This season's Tanev IMO

[DeluxeMoustache]

^ agreed, that’s why I brought up Hudler. Coleman appears to play the right way, has skill and compete, and could be better utilized by a less deep team

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

^ I’m hoping for Coleman to be less like those guys and more like a Hudler, just less, um, fun off the ice

Hudler is a legend.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

The first 3 headed goalie monster is what I referred to as an embarrassment

An embarrassment of goaltending riches, am I right?

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

But what was bizarre about bringing in another team's cap dump to get a pick?

[JackIsBack]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Hudler is a legend.

To my wife.... yes, she loves him, she hated Hamilton (still does), she blamed him somehow for being the cause of Hudler being traded for the cap space.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Bingo

But what was bizarre about bringing in another team's cap dump to get a pick?

All that was bizarre was bookending a year that started with 3 goalies, and ending with 3 goalies. That’s all

Most teams don’t have 3 goalies on the roster at any point in the season

I love how laser focused people get on pulling out a tiny piece of a post and beating it to death. I guess the rest of it was perfect haha

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

All that was bizarre was bookending a year that started with 3 goalies, and ending with 3 goalies. That’s all

Most teams don’t have 3 goalies on the roster at any point in the season

I love how laser focused people get on pulling out a tiny piece of a post and beating it to death. I guess the rest of it was perfect haha

It was your wording.

Seemed like you thought it was some sort of an embarrassing mistake.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

All that was bizarre was bookending a year that started with 3 goalies, and ending with 3 goalies. That’s all

Most teams don’t have 3 goalies on the roster at any point in the season

I love how laser focused people get on pulling out a tiny piece of a post and beating it to death. I guess the rest of it was perfect haha

CP darling Florida Panthers ran with 3 goalies this year. Used them almost equally in the POs. Alternate CP darling Avalanche went with 4.

[DionTheDman]

There was an article posted recently on the Athletic re - Gio and his last few weeks since being selected by Seattle. One interesting bit:

Have you spoken to anyone from Vegas for any kind of guidance on being on an expansion team?

Yeah, the only guy I talked to about it was James Neal and he absolutely loved the experience. He said he had a great time in Vegas and everything about his experience there was all positive. So I talked to him a bit about it and he just wished me the best and said, ‘You’re going to love it.’

So maybe at the least, Gio and Neal are on good terms?

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by DionTheDman

There was an article posted recently on the Athletic re - Gio and his last few weeks since being selected by Seattle. One interesting bit:

So maybe at the least, Gio and Neal are on good terms?

Gio is all class but if you read between the between of the lines of his texts they would read:

“bought out? lol”

“didn’t last so long in Edmonton either eh bud?”

“Four years older than you and I’m still playing…20 mins a night!”

“I hear Arizona has great denturists and retirement communities”

“Guessing you can’t even get a PTO”

“Loooooooch!”

[DeluxeMoustache]

^ “Back to the gym”

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by DionTheDman

There was an article posted recently on the Athletic re - Gio and his last few weeks since being selected by Seattle. One interesting bit:

So maybe at the least, Gio and Neal are on good terms?

Gio's a pretty good dude and I'm sure he gets along with most players. Anytime you have a group of 20+ people working together daily it's likely that some people aren't going to get along and I'm sure Neal may have rubbed some players the wrong way but it's not often you will have the entire locker room unified in it's dislike for a player. I'm sure there's a few players in the Sharks locker room that don't mind Kane. It's also possible that the person that liked Neal the least was Peters.

[JackIsBack]

1) Pittsburgh doesn't protect him in the expansion draft - why?
2) Las Vegas doesn't re-sign him before free agency - why? (although there is talk that he wanted more and Calgary out-bid them).
3) Calgary benches him during an elimination game in the playoffs.
4) Calgary dumps/swaps his contract for another bad contract just one year in - we know why.
5) Edmonton benches him during the playoffs and gets swept.

6) Edmonton buys him out after 2 years there



We still don't know what the issues are with Neal in the room and with his team mates. I still go back to the podcast with him, McDavid, Leon, and Nurse - the Edmonton good old boys, where they are the "team" and the future of Edmonton - it was a brag fest, and that leaves credence to my opinion that Neal is the all talk and not the real deal on the ice, and he doesn't pull his weight... and the team doesn't like him for that - but I don't know.