If the Bruins wanted Neal at his cap number they could have just signed him for it in the summer. I doubt his performance so far this year has driven them to now give up any assets for him. His term is just too long and risky for any team move any assets for. Calgary is probably stuck with him unless someone wants to swap equally underperforming players on bad contracts.
Yeah and if they wanted Tavares they could of just signed him too. It's less about Neal's performance and more about the Bruins' performance. They need scoring. Calgary doesn't need to get rid of him at all, they are first in their division even with his under performing play. Boston is the one with the need.
Your "very proven top 6 scorer" is on pace for a 16 point season. Nash had more than double that and Statsny had more than triple that.
Sure, other teams were in on him, but no other team was giving him the dollars and terms that Calgary did. That's my point.
He's operating at a 97.3 PDO, you're just being obtuse here if you think a player with 10 straight 20 goal seasons is going to end up with under 20 points. He's being underutilized in Calgary, averaging 2:30 less than his career average.
You laugh at Donato's production, and yet, it's more than twice as good as the pace that Neal is on this year. Surely you can see the problem here?
Donato has 2 powerplay goals in 15 games and no other points. That's actually a worse pace than Neal is on, so I don't know what you're getting at. Debating differences of such minuscule amounts is pointless.
First of all, it's not two months, it's four months and secondly, you seem to repeatedly refuse to acknowledge that the reason that people think he's a toxic asset is because he's signed a five year deal. If he were on a one year deal, people might roll the dice based on his track record, but nobody wants to be on the hook for nearly $6 million bucks for him as a 32, 33, 34 and 35 year old if this is how he's performing in year one of the deal.
Again, he hasn't been that his entire career. He's not that now. And now is when you want Boston to acquire him (they don't have the cap space to do it anyway.) Between him and Backes there wouldn't be a team in the league getting less for $12 million.
Nobody cares what happened in September. The season started two months and a week ago. He has been that his entire career, one of the most consistent goal scorers in the league over that time ranking 16th in goals since entering the NHL. Nobody wants to be on the hook for big money deals for players aged 32-36, despite the countless examples of teams being on the hook for big money deals for players 32+.
If the Bruins can't afford to pay him that's one thing, but with the group of players they have they need to be competing now and I just happen to think Neal would be a good fit on that second line. They don't have the depth to compete with Tampa or Toronto or Washington or Pittsburgh. Sweeney knows he needs to be going for it, which is why Rick Nash was in a Bruins uniform last playoffs.
please don't act like he is some superstar in the making.
