Confirmed with Link: Flames Trade Neal for Lucic (12.5% retained) and conditional 3rd round pick

[Rangediddy]

Only indirectly through reporters, I think. Nothing on the record that I've seen.

I guess all we can do is assume then

I heard through a friend of a friend of a friend who knows a girl that's dating a guy who's uncle works in the organization... that after 2 straight seasons going to the Stanley Cup finals, Neal decided to just not train at all the summer we signed him. Played too much hockey and took a summer off purple monkey dishwasher

 

[Nanuuk]

Only indirectly through reporters, I think. Nothing on the record that I've seen.

As far as Neal is concerned, it’s exactly what he needed. He already feels better here than he felt in Calgary and training camp hasn’t even started yet.
“I just didn’t feel like myself (last year),” he said, adding it’s a much better vibe this year. “Coming in and getting a house early, seeing the facilities here, everything about it feels good. The rink is amazing. You spend a lot of your time in it and that dressing room is pretty awesome.
“I had a great summer of training, I’m in great shape, I put in a lot of work and I feel good, I feel confident coming into camp, whereas last year I didn’t feel like that.”

“Last year, you don’t want to use excuses but it was tough for me. If you go to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals, the wear and tear on your body and your ability to recover and get back to where you want to be is just not there. That’s the reality of it.
“I was worn down. Then going to a new town, moving, was a big change for me. And where I was playing (in the lineup) was really hard.

And the 'real' reason...

“I’ll talk to Tip (Dave Tippett) and we’ll go through the specifics of it when we get to camp, but of course I want to be in the top six. I’ve proven I can play in that role and I can put the puck in the net. I’ve scored 20-plus goals for 10-plus seasons. I know I can score.”

TYCHKOWSKI: Neal fully expects to rediscover his scoring touch with Oilers

 

[Rangediddy]

As far as Neal is concerned, it’s exactly what he needed. He already feels better here than he felt in Calgary and training camp hasn’t even started yet.
“I just didn’t feel like myself (last year),” he said, adding it’s a much better vibe this year. “Coming in and getting a house early, seeing the facilities here, everything about it feels good. The rink is amazing. You spend a lot of your time in it and that dressing room is pretty awesome.
“I had a great summer of training, I’m in great shape, I put in a lot of work and I feel good, I feel confident coming into camp, whereas last year I didn’t feel like that.”

“Last year, you don’t want to use excuses but it was tough for me. If you go to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals, the wear and tear on your body and your ability to recover and get back to where you want to be is just not there. That’s the reality of it.
“I was worn down. Then going to a new town, moving, was a big change for me. And where I was playing (in the lineup) was really hard.

And the 'real' reason...

“I’ll talk to Tip (Dave Tippett) and we’ll go through the specifics of it when we get to camp, but of course I want to be in the top six. I’ve proven I can play in that role and I can put the puck in the net. I’ve scored 20-plus goals for 10-plus seasons. I know I can score.”

TYCHKOWSKI: Neal fully expects to rediscover his scoring touch with Oilers

If he goes and scores 20+ this year, Flames should get their lawyers on it and sue him for fraud.

 

[Lunatik]

If he goes and scores 20+ this year, Flames should get their lawyers on it and sue him for fraud.

Eh, even Chiasson can score 20 with McDavid.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Eh, hey James, you're a professional athlete... You chose to sign in Calgary, Edmonton offered to pay you more and you still came here. After pouting and crying, funny how his narrative changed about how great Edmonton suddenly is. Hopefully the nice new lockers really help him put the puck in the net.

 

[Lunatik]

Eh, hey James, you're a professional athlete... You chose to sign in Calgary, Edmonton offered to pay you more and you still came here. After pouting and crying, funny how his narrative changed about how great Edmonton suddenly is. Hopefully the nice new lockers really help him put the puck in the net.

Just enough to scre 21 goals and get us that draft pick for being the new Chiasson.

 

[Volica]

If he goes and scores 20+ this year, Flames should get their lawyers on it and sue him for fraud.

He likely will score 20.
Playing PP1, 17+ minutes a night.

People don't realize that when we traded them Neal, a guy who was probably our 11th/12th best forward last year, he improved them; he's probably their 4th or 5th best forward. Which tells you about the state of the Oilers.

 

[Mobiandi]

Neal's been broken ever since he missed that wide open net in game 4 against the Caps

 

[Tkachuky]

Eh, hey James, you're a professional athlete... You chose to sign in Calgary, Edmonton offered to pay you more and you still came here. After pouting and crying, funny how his narrative changed about how great Edmonton suddenly is. Hopefully the nice new lockers really help him put the puck in the net.

Exactly.... it’s kind of funny that now he says all of these nice things about Edmonton. Just a sore loser mentality. See, he could have just said he had an off year and he is excited to get back on track and leave the Calgary crap out.

Either way, Lucic will have more of an impact here than Neal did.

 

[Anglesmith]

He likely will score 20.
Playing PP1, 17+ minutes a night.

People don't realize that when we traded them Neal, a guy who was probably our 11th/12th best forward last year, he improved them; he's probably their 4th or 5th best forward. Which tells you about the state of the Oilers.

I don't think so. Lucic actually outproduced Neal last year, and they each had about the same kinds of opportunities. If Neal is actually going to be their 4th or 5th best forward, that means they're also losing their 4th or 5th best forward at the same time. Garbage out, garbage in.

People talk about how they might be able to squeeze blood from a stone in Neal by force-feeding him prime ice, but they didn't have the patience to do that with Lucic. Why would they be willing to pump Neal's totals after they didn't do that with Lucic? They clearly want higher-energy guys to be with their stars, and get fed up with guys who can't move effectively robbing the line of its speed. I think Neal will fall down the roster just like Lucic, but with the difference that they can turf him after the season when things inevitably go wrong. I think there's a decent chance that this will be Neal's final season in the NHL.

It's hilarious, though. I almost didn't believe you when you said 4th or 5th best forward, because I figured there must be some more talent on that roster than just in the three centre-bros. But holy shit, it's definitely arguable. I would say that outside of 97, 29 and 93, you could make an argument that right now Chiasson, Khaira, Granlund and Kassian are more effective players than Neal/Lucic. But those guys are all essentially at that replacement-tier where it doesn't really matter to rank them. Man, things are rough in Edmonton. Playoffs?!

 

[joescores]

Can't wait for the big boy to lace them up in our colours

 

[Khrox]

'JUST GETTING STARTED'


Reading this, there is an interesting quote from Lucic here:
"What excites me most after agreeing to the trade is the feedback I got immediately from the players here... when you're wanted by your peers, you kinda hold your head up higher."

It makes it sound like he felt like he wasn't wanted/liked by his teammates in Edmonton.

 

[Fig]

'JUST GETTING STARTED'


Reading this, there is an interesting quote from Lucic here:
"What excites me most after agreeing to the trade is the feedback I got immediately from the players here... when you're wanted by your peers, you kinda hold your head up higher."

It makes it sound like he felt like he wasn't wanted/liked by his teammates in Edmonton.

I dunno. I don't think that's the case. I think it's a totally different culture. For instance, we went and acquired a Russian translator for the Russian kids in development camp so they could get feedback in real time, adjust immediately and get nearly the full experience of development camp. This might be the same thing. Our team is open to giving each other feedback. In Edmonton, perhaps they don't give each other feedback and the only feedback they get is generally from the coach?

I would imagine there are other teams like Edmonton that doesn't have a team that speaks freely to one another and mainly just listen to marching orders from the coach?

 

[Volica]

Edmonton has long been known as a Toxic environment for players.
They gave away an entire young core of Hall/Eberle just to get rid of it; overpaid a bunch of vets to fix it, but simply spun their tires.

When a guy like Hitch (a guy who will go down as a top 10 all-time coach), is totally speechless about how his team is performing, and that he has nothing nice to say about a group at all... it really goes to show what goes on in that room.

I honestly do think that Lucic is going to have a monster year in Calgary. Remember, it wasn't that long ago that this guy was a 20 goal threat that also... threatened people. He'll be big come playoff time.

 

[Lunatik]

'JUST GETTING STARTED'


Reading this, there is an interesting quote from Lucic here:
"What excites me most after agreeing to the trade is the feedback I got immediately from the players here... when you're wanted by your peers, you kinda hold your head up higher."

It makes it sound like he felt like he wasn't wanted/liked by his teammates in Edmonton.

Maybe he didn't feel like he fit in? From what Ference said the Oilers have a very strong party atmosphere, or at least used to, and if Lucic isn't a partier anymore he may not fit in.

 

[super6646]

I'll believe it when I see it with Lucic. Maybe it's just me, but I kind of get a bit of hang wringing when looking back on his comments on Edmonton and realizing this market hasn't exactly been big winners either in recent years either. While it most certainly is fun to make fun of Edmonton, I don't want this person to start becoming a distraction if the season falls apart (and if you guys think this team is impervious to failing to meet expectations, just looking back to the 2017-18 season for a quick refresher).

 

[Lunatik]

I'll believe it when I see it with Lucic. Maybe it's just me, but I kind of get a bit of hang wringing when looking back on his comments on Edmonton and realizing this market hasn't exactly been big winners either in recent years either. While it most certainly is fun to make fun of Edmonton, I don't want this person to start becoming a distraction if the season falls apart (and if you guys think this team is impervious to failing to meet expectations, just looking back to the 2017-18 season for a quick refresher).

It's not as if Lucic is calling media scrums to talk about the Oilers. He's specifically being asked about them because he was with our biggest rival. I really hope once the season starts these questions stop.

 

[Fig]

Remember when I hoped he could gel with Tkachuk and form a line called James and the Giant B'each?

 

[Oil Dood]

I 100% think Looch can get 30+ pts for us next season. 12-15 goals should be the aim, maybe 5-6 on the PP? Another 8-10 PP assists. Then I expect Looch to be a presence, give us some size and make teams play us more honest. I think he’s going to enable Tkachuk and Bennett to play even more the pest role and when teams come to pile Matty, Looch is going to be the deterrent and that’s going to really frustrate the opposition. As long as he brings an honest effort every night and a mean streak, with that big sexy frame of his I’m stoked to have him on the Flames.

Oiler fan coming in peace here, if you see Lucic on the PP be angry, he is not good in that role(the hands are gone).
About all he can do is stand in front of the net and you hope pucks bounce off of him, if he has to retrieve the puck.....it will be in your end very quickly.
I am a huge Lucic fan but he really should consider retirement at this point.

 

[super6646]

Oiler fan coming in peace here, if you see Lucic on the PP be angry, he is not good in that role(the hands are gone).
About all he can do is stand in front of the net and you hope pucks bounce off of him, if he has to retrieve the puck.....it will be in your end very quickly.
I am a huge Lucic fan but he really should consider retirement at this point.

Lucic won’t be retiring, so I won’t bother delving into fantasy.

I hope he isn’t a mainstay on it. Guy has legit no hands.

 

[JGaudreau]

Lucic looks really good so far. I'm more impressed with his 2 pre-season games than anything Neal did the entire season.

He looks really agile, smart passes. Only mistake he's made is forcing some shots so far but still he looks like a pretty good add that might be a possession beast. He doesn't even look slow, at all. I think there's a lot of untapped potential with Lucic, he is way smarter than I thought he was.

 

[DFF]

Lucic looks really good so far. I'm more impressed with his 2 pre-season games than anything Neal did the entire season.

He looks really agile, smart passes. Only mistake he's made is forcing some shots so far but still he looks like a pretty good add that might be a possession beast. He doesn't even look slow, at all. I think there's a lot of untapped potential with Lucic, he is way smarter than I thought he was.

I think Lucic will be better than Neal was. That's not hard to do.

But untapped potential? Thanks for a good laugh.

 

[JPeeper]

He looks really agile, smart passes. Only mistake he's made is forcing some shots so far but still he looks like a pretty good add that might be a possession beast. He doesn't even look slow, at all. I think there's a lot of untapped potential with Lucic, he is way smarter than I thought he was.

I don't know what you're watching, but watching him live tonight he is quite slow and the opposite of agile.

I won't hate on the guy immediately some fans are here at the dome are, but I'll be blunt when I say he looks slow af. Straight speed he's fine, but he has no agility or acceleration.

 

[JGaudreau]

I don't know what you're watching, but watching him live tonight he is quite slow and the opposite of agile.

I won't hate on the guy immediately some fans are here at the dome are, but I'll be blunt when I say he looks slow af. Straight speed he's fine, but he has no agility or acceleration.

He made a pretty slick pivot in the corner to cut against the grain and pass back to the point and is getting himself in good positions all he is lacking is confidence. If he is a little more patient he could help create some offensive chances. I could see him setting up Ryan regularly.

Clearly he doesn't believe in himself yet, he's dished the puck off several times when a little patience would have opened up some great chances.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Don't want Looch anywhere near the top 9 or PP really. Let him start on the 4th line and throw an occasional hit or fight the occasional fight. Maybe even score the occasional goal. If he earns a bigger role through his play then sure, but Peters' gameplan is all about tempo, and tempo is really not Milan's strong suit.