Kunitz helps that line because he's an exceptional board player and puck hound, something Neal has never, ever been known for, even when he's on. Expecting him to all of a sudden be a monster on the boards is as unreasonable as expecting Kunitz to all of a sudden have Neal's shot.
First of all, Kunitz is a pretty good board player, not an exceptional one. Lets keep the exaggerating to a minimum. That's twice in as many posts.
And once again, no one expects Neal to become anyone except the player he has already shown he is capable of being.
Trying to exaggerate for effect and making excuses for Neal isn't very convincing.
And I don't think Neal's compete level has been anything near as atrocious as you're making out. You are over-exaggerating to make your point. He backchecks as hard as anyone on the team outside of Dupes, and he has 1.5 hits per game.
So it is your estimation that he didn't honestly come by his -4, and it was just a big coincidence the second line couldn't score at ES, and yet an even bigger coincidence DB removed him from Crosby's line. None of this had anything to do with Neal dogging it most of the season?
I guess DB figured Crosby needed his big PF, Dupuis, back.
Neither Neal nor Malkin is a dogged board player, and that was a valuable component Kunitz brought to that line. If we want that line to consistently succeed at ES, it needs to find that attribute elsewhere.
Malkin is an exceptional board player but he can't cycle with himself. Neal has shown again and again he can do everything I expect from him, but he most certainly isn't doing it this season.
I guess he drank some gummy bear juice before the first period last night. I mean, there is no way we should expect that kind of effort for a full game, let alone an entire season.
It's not fair, right? He scores goals.
You've gotta be kidding me with that list. Half of them don't hit and the other half don't score. I wouldn't trade Neal for any of them outside of Perry.
All of those guys hit more than Neal and play harder than Neal. And saying you prefer Neal over the likes of Lucic and Kane is borderline ridiculous.
Hartnell and Kane are probably the closest to your ideal...one of them takes more stupid penalties than anyone in the league, and the other's a jackass who puts himself before his team.
Right because Neal isn't taking stupid, lazy penalties and he is giving it his all every shift for his teammates.
Perry would be a godsend, but that's why he's going to make 7 mil plus on his next contract.
Perry doesn't have some magic powers that makes him better than Neal. He isn't a dynamic skater or anymore physically imposing. The difference is he does all of the little things needed to win. He agitates, goes to the net, finishes his checks and knows how to finish.
The fact is that we got James Neal to score goals. We had a ******** of grinders and muckers, and exactly zero wingers who were one-shot scorers. Well now we have probably the 2nd best player in the league in that regard, and all some people want to do is chew them out for not being Kunitz. That's what's unreal.
The fact is you are wrong and making excuses for Neal. Once again he got removed from Crosby's line for a reason. DB was drolling for the day he could put those two together, then he was forced to break them up.
You want to read what you want to read. My point is and remains that Neal has another level he can go to and he is playing uninspired hockey. Just because he scores goals, doesn't mean he should be excused from hard work.
Joey Mullen, as I said, was a true sniper who wasn't very big and wasn't a great skater, but he worked his ass off every shift and didn't use his natural goal scoring abilities as a crutch to dog it.
Even the poster boy for lazy snipers (unfairly), Kessel, works twice as hard as Neal every game.
Just excuse after excuse for Neal. Keep them coming.
