Player Discussion James “The Real Deal” Neal a Flame! 5 years, 28.75 million.

[Calgareee]

One thing I heard a little while ago that likely plays into the slow start is that Neal has played A LOT of hockey the last few years. Went to the cup final this last year and a lot of deep playoff runs. I kinda hopeful that he’ll slowly round back into form and come April might give us another legit scoring line.

One can hope right???

 

[Rubi]

 

[SmellOfVictory]

We didn't pay him to drive play. We paid him to be invisible for long stretches in a game and then pop up and make one play to win us the game. That's what his MO was with Nashville and Vegas. Granted, he's not reaching that so far this season, but the difference between what he is now and that is a lot less than you might think.

If Treliving paid Neal almost 6 mil per year to occasionally score a goal without doing anything else of value then I guess our GM is an idiot.

 

[Body Checker]

Bartender: Mr. Treliving would you like to try a bottle of "RFA signings" or maybe a vintage "Draft day trade" or we just got this in today the new sparkling "2019 July 1st UFA"
Brad: Oooooooo
Brad's wife (interrupting): "Sounds expensive......….he'll try the RFA or Draft day trade"

 

[Anglesmith]

If Treliving paid Neal almost 6 mil per year to occasionally score a goal without doing anything else of value then I guess our GM is an idiot.

Being invisible and not doing anything are two completely different things. Generally a player is invisible if they are doing their job and not making any mistakes. Troy Brouwer wasn't invisible for us, for example.

 

[Volica]

Being invisible and not doing anything are two completely different things. Generally a player is invisible if they are doing their job and not making any mistakes. Troy Brouwer wasn't invisible for us, for example.

Hard to make burning garbage invisible to be fair.
The smell and visual of fire is hard to mask

 

[joescores]

10 points in 46 games..

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Being invisible and not doing anything are two completely different things. Generally a player is invisible if they are doing their job and not making any mistakes. Troy Brouwer wasn't invisible for us, for example.

I'd argue there's a very wide middle ground between "invisible because you're playing effectively with minimal visible impact" and "invisible because you're not doing anything useful at all"; Brouwer actively hurt the Flames while he was on the ice, and while Neal generally doesn't do that, he's far closer to the "invisible because useless" end of the scale than the "inivisble yet effective" end. 6 million is way too much to pay a guy to not-really-actively-hurt-your-team-very-much.

 

[Anglesmith]

I'd argue there's a very wide middle ground between "invisible because you're playing effectively with minimal visible impact" and "invisible because you're not doing anything useful at all"; Brouwer actively hurt the Flames while he was on the ice, and while Neal generally doesn't do that, he's far closer to the "invisible because useless" end of the scale than the "inivisble yet effective" end. 6 million is way too much to pay a guy to not-really-actively-hurt-your-team-very-much.

You're correct. I think everyone on this board agrees that his current level of production is dismal compared to his paycheque.

But the point I was discussing was that Neal isn't a guy who has a history of driving play. If he was scoring while being invisible, that's fulfilling what we signed him for.

 

[Dertell]

Meeting expectations isn't be-all and end-all. If they expected him to score at a 0.55 PPG rate this year, they shouldn't have offered him 29M for 5 years. It's still bad spending.

 

[Shawnofthedeadz]

If you average out Lindholm's and Neal's contract it is still a win so I am not unhappy with how the offseason turned out and fine with some risk. I like to believe that Neal will turn it around. He has looked more dangerous of late. He has also been terribly unlucky this season with bounces. Almost as if this year is an annomly.

I don't think he has ever been an exciting player like Johnny but I imagine he is a tier down from Monahan. Okay player but a dangerous finisher... So an AHL 3rd line winger.

 

[The Gnome]

The salary sucks, but he certainly doesn't hurt us by being in the lineup. I like Neal and hope the goals start to rack up a little quicker than pre all-star break. He's good down low and wins puck battles, he can hit when needed. He's making quality passes, and chipping in a bit now. A spike in goals is all I'm looking for at this point.

 

[Tkachuky]

He’s very mediocre. No way defending him tbh. Not any different than Brouwer.

If we weren’t doing as good as we were now, Neal would be lit up by fans a lot more.

 

[Anglesmith]

He had one of his best games of the season last game. Hope that continues after the break.

 

[The Gnome]

He’s very mediocre. No way defending him tbh. Not any different than Brouwer.

If we weren’t doing as good as we were now, Neal would be lit up by fans a lot more.

I'd argue he's a vast improvement on Brouwer. He's nowhere near worth his cap hit, but Neal > Brouwer at their respective cap hits.

 

[Tkachuky]

I'd argue he's a vast improvement on Brouwer. He's nowhere near worth his cap hit, but Neal > Brouwer at their respective cap hits.

I mean I like Neal this year more than I liked Brouwer last year. But they have same output point wise (Neal trending for same as Brouwer last year)

 

[The Gnome]

I mean I like Neal this year more than I liked Brouwer last year. But they have same output point wise (Neal trending for same as Brouwer last year)

Yeah...And Brouwer was a "negative value" player, when he got on the ice, I was scared. I'm not feeling the same about Neal at all. Brouwer made me cringe, Neal never really has that effect on me.

 

[Nanuuk]

I think Neal needs a better centre. That isn't a knock against Backlund. Backs gets his points but his focus is defensive for the most part. Jankowski is big and gangly and is getting better, but he isn't a play-maker. This is why the 3 line really hasn't taken off yet IMO. I think Tre needs to go out and get a 3C and bump Janks down to the 4 line.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I think Neal needs a better centre. That isn't a knock against Backlund. Backs gets his points but his focus is defensive for the most part. Jankowski is big and gangly and is getting better, but he isn't a play-maker. This is why the 3 line really hasn't taken off yet IMO. I think Tre needs to go out and get a 3C and bump Janks down to the 4 line.

He's been better since lining up beside Backlund, and is why his play looks to be improved as of late.

 

[Nanuuk]

Yes and now Chucky's play isn't as strong. Maybe one day Janko will show some play-making ability, but right now he isn't feeding his wingers. The Flames need to find a way to get Neal going without crimping someone else.

 

[Iggys Dome]

Really hope Neal heats up down the stretch heading into the playoffs. I expect him to do so, he looked really good the few games before the ASB.

 

[Fig]

I don't know about you guys, but one thing I have been surprised to notice about Neal is that he does make quite a few nifty and slick passes on a semi regular basis. However, guys like Czarnik and Bennett and a few others have completely flubbed them because they aren't expecting those passes.

As insanely bizarre as it sounds, having a finisher with Neal could actually benefit him, even though Neal is known as a sniper. Ferland is kind of that type of guy... essentially a passenger who makes his own space and can shoot.

I can't believe I'm suggesting helping Neal develop as a play maker...

 

[Volica]

Not worried about this guy.
He's having a statistically improbable season; and we should keep that in mind. His game is coming along. He has 3 points in his last 6 games, with all those points being crucial to a Calgary win.

Come playoff time, we're going to be happy he's on the roster; especially in that first round where there are teams that still don't really have much depth.

 

[ESH]

I feel like his problems with getting pucks on net is less. I think he’s finally sorta getting used to his new stick.

The stick excuse can only go so far. It should not take a player that long to get used to a stick when they’re using almost every day for like 6 months.

He has looked better recently though. Him and Backlund seem to be developing some decent chemistry.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I feel like it’s a running joke, “Neal had his best game last game”.

But I ain’t gonna rag on Neal, he’s a proven guy and he’s been looking good of late. He’s gonna bust out, it’s a matter of time. In no way has he looked awful like Brouwer.