Confirmed with Link: James Neal traded to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling

[Honour Over Glory]

In this particular scenario, yes, yes he is.

Yeah, that Murray and Morrow trade was magnificent, what did we give up and how far did we get with them again?

Remind me again what this team severely lacks in terms of depth in a particular area for prospects and what Shero gave up to get Iginla?

Oh right.

 

[Michael8771*]

Yeah, that Murray and Morrow trade was magnificent, what did we give up and how far did we get with them again?

Remind me again what this team severely lacks in terms of depth in a particular area for prospects and what Shero gave up to get Iginla?

Oh right.

What were your thoughts on the Kunitz trade, how about BG, Hossa Dupuis, Neal and Nisky for Gogo? Scary Gary Roberts, How about the Staal deal?

Yep, he never made a good trade.

 

[Human]

even if Neal wanted out, it feels like they should have been able to get at least a pick on top of that package...

 

[Fraction Jackson]

How did Neal compliment Geno, really? How about maximizing his passes and putting them in the back of the net. How about helping Geno score 50 Freakin goals in a season and winning the Art Ross and Hart Trophy? Are you actually suggesting that Neal did nothing to help Malkin????

Once upon a time, Evgeni Malkin scored 47 goals and 106 points in a season. His linemates were Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora. Neither of them scored 30 goals.

But wait! The next season, Evgeni Malkin won the Art Ross and the Conn Smythe. He had 113 points. Wherein the best regular linemate he had was still Petr Sykora, and his regular linemates in the playoffs, in which he won the Conn Smythe, as a reminder, were Maxime Talbot and Ruslan Fedotenko.

In other words: it does not necessarily follow that James Neal was the "best" option for Malkin, or that he particularly helped him, because there have been equally good - if not better - seasons with Malkin flanked by less talented but more complementary players. And - the two years I mentioned, Malkin was a juggernaut both regular season and playoffs, and we made the finals both years.

It does not necessarily, logically, follow that Neal was not a good fit for Malkin to put us over the top and win in the playoffs due to the above. But, similarly, your premise doesn't work either - nothing proves that Neal was the ideal fit for Malkin, except for regular season points, which, as you may note, have nothing to do with the playoffs, either.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

What were your thoughts on the Kunitz trade, how about BG, Hossa Dupuis, Neal and Nisky for Gogo? Scary Gary Roberts, How about the Staal deal?

Yep, he never made a good trade.

Some people only live in fantasy land where they only see the good.

 

[KIRK]

Wait, what???

Never heard that? Rumor, of course, but would explain why JR wasn't actually bidding against himself as people argue.

http://www.canescountry.com/2012/6/...ike-the-jordan-staal-trade-the-nhl-version-of

It was reported yesterday at the time of the trade that two other teams were interested in Jordan Staal. Darren Pang revealed via twitter later in the evening that one of those teams was the New York Rangers

Can't find anything about Gaborik being offered (just something I remember), but look at the names suggested. Maybe JR didn't pony up simply because he's senile or out of the goodness of his heart . . .

FYI, if memory serves, Toronto was the other team. I remember, when the deal was done, Brian Burke being asked why he didn't top it, and he said 'we don't have a player named Staal'. Thing is, the Rangers did.

 

[mpp9]

That's because Shero is a better GM

Shero can fleece as many GMs as he wants in terms of value. I'll take the GM who will build the team for playoff success in the next few years.

I have a very good feeling about this team moving forward.

 

[KIRK]

Once upon a time, Evgeni Malkin scored 47 goals and 106 points in a season. His linemates were Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora. Neither of them scored 30 goals.

But wait! The next season, Evgeni Malkin won the Art Ross and the Conn Smythe. He had 113 points. Wherein the best regular linemate he had was still Petr Sykora, and his regular linemates in the playoffs, in which he won the Conn Smythe, as a reminder, were Maxime Talbot and Ruslan Fedotenko.

In other words: it does not necessarily follow that James Neal was the "best" option for Malkin, because there have been equally good - if not better - seasons with Malkin flanked by less talented but more complementary players. And - the two years I mentioned, Malkin was a juggernaut both regular season and playoffs, and we made the finals both years.

It does not necessarily, logically, follow that Neal was not a good fit for Malkin to put us over the top and win in the playoffs due to the above. But, similarly, your premise doesn't work either - nothing proves that Neal was the ideal fit for Malkin, except for regular season points, which, as you may note, have nothing to do with the playoffs, either.

You forgot the best part of the story. Goal scorer Petr Sykora was such a leech that he actually was replaced by utility man Max Talbot and only THEN did Geno win the Conn Smythe.

 

[Defender1970]

Why in the hell would you trade my favorite player on the team? So, since we're getting rid of all the talent, why dont we just get rid of Malkin and Crosby? I'm sure Rutherford can find more way to screw over my beloved team!

Remember guys.. this is all from ownership who tried to move the team to Houston..NOTE to ownership... Stop screwing my team up!

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

Shero can fleece as many GMs as he wants in terms of value. I'll take the GM who will build the team for playoff success in the next few years.

I have a very good feeling about this team moving forward.

I have the exact opposite feeling.

 

[Michael8771*]

Once upon a time, Evgeni Malkin scored 47 goals and 106 points in a season. His linemates were Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora. Neither of them scored 30 goals.

But wait! The next season, Evgeni Malkin won the Art Ross and the Conn Smythe. He had 113 points. Wherein the best regular linemate he had was still Petr Sykora, and his regular linemates in the playoffs, in which he won the Conn Smythe, as a reminder, were Maxime Talbot and Ruslan Fedotenko.

In other words: it does not necessarily follow that James Neal was the "best" option for Malkin, because there have been equally good - if not better - seasons with Malkin flanked by less talented but more complementary players. And - the two years I mentioned, Malkin was a juggernaut both regular season and playoffs, and we made the finals both years.

It does not necessarily, logically, follow that Neal was not a good fit for Malkin to put us over the top and win in the playoffs due to the above. But, similarly, your premise doesn't work either - nothing proves that Neal was the ideal fit for Malkin, except for regular season points,[/B] which, as you may note, have nothing to do with the playoffs, either.

Really? Well how was Sid's recent post season? Because relative to expectations his was as disappointing as Neals. Before this past post season and playing regularly with Geno Neal scored 16 points in 18 games. Geno has said on a couple occasions that Neal was his favorite wingman and the player he meshed with the best. Also gave props to Kulemin. I'll take his word for it.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Shero can fleece as many GMs as he wants in terms of value. I'll take the GM who will build the team for playoff success in the next few years.

I have a very good feeling about this team moving forward.

I have the same old feeling of not trusting them not to **** up.

 

[Wes C Addle]

I still think the character part is a pretty big piece in all this. If Neal had a crap attitude and it started to cause fractures in the room it wouldn't surprise me at all. Beau and Bort seemed to follow him around quite a bit so hopefully this is a positive for guys like that as well.

Losing Neal stings, but I'm excited to see what the new additions can do.

 

[Riptide]

DV, I think you're going to feel pretty embarrassed about your comments on both Hornqvist and Kapanen. Absolutely ridiculous.

Kapanen was a fantastic draft pick. Hornqvist wasn't the issue with the trade. The issue was with the + that he came with, and the fact it wasn't a younger player with some upside (Wilson, etc), or a swap of the picks, or something along those lines.

 

[Michael8771*]

I have the exact opposite feeling.

I'm undecided, I'll wait and see where we're at in the middle of next week. But thus far I'm not impressed.

 

[Kharkov]

Quite weird trade to my eye. But if Neal is kind of mental cancer, hopefully then these new guys show good attitude, don't play dirty, and can play both D and offense.

 

[Riptide]

The ****ing Gold and Yellow glasses effect around here is hilarious. I never said his production won't change with Sid. I'm saying (even after his numbers improve some) he still won't come close to matching Neal's production most seasons AND... he costs almost as much as Neal.

It was a bad move. Deal with it.

It's not only about production though. Hornqvist will help even when he's not scoring. Neal when not scoring is almost invisible. Unless he plays like he did in game 4 vs NYR when he was a beast on the forecheck... but that so seldomly happens that I'm fine with moving him.

 

[KIRK]

Quite weird trade to my eye. But if Neal is kind of mental cancer, hopefully then these new guys show good attitude, don't play dirty, and can play both D and offense.

I have no problem with a little dirty. But, I want it to be within the context of the right attitude. Used to love Jarkko Ruutu, because he'd drive the other team nuts. Every moment they'd try to kill him would be one less they'd be trying to kill Sid and Geno.

 

[Riptide]

Abso-****ing-lutely.

You get Hornqvist and Kulemin on this team, we instantly start matching up with Boston's size and ability to wear teams down. Spaling is also a good addition on the 3rd line. He brings good size and grit.

I'm not really mad about what happened today, especially considering JR went out and drafted a highly skilled winger to compliment these pieces.

Those who sought change in philosophy got it, even though we probably got a little short changed, but unhappy campers don't typically fetch the highest returns.

He's 6-1, 200 lbs and hits less than Sutter. He doesn't really bring either of those things.

 

[KIRK]

Kapanen was a fantastic draft pick. Hornqvist wasn't the issue with the trade. The issue was with the + that he came with, and the fact it wasn't a younger player with some upside (Wilson, etc), or a swap of the picks, or something along those lines.

1. You weren't getting Wilson.
2. Maybe you are underselling Spaling a little.
3. That #11 pick. Would he make any contribution before Geno turned 30?

Nice article on our throw-in guy who wasn't the 1st we all wanted and expected:

http://www.ontheforecheck.com/2014/5/19/5730024/nick-spaling-review-2014-paying-the-utility-bill

I will tell you (folks) this.
I lived in Franklin TN for the past couple of years. And as such went to quite a few Preds games . . . The bottom line is this. Go to our GDT's over the past year and see how they are littered with bit**ing about Glass, Adams and to a lesser extent Pyatt. I can almost guarantee you that this will not be the case next year with Nick Spaling. While you might not come away "impressed" with his game, you most certainly aren't going to come away upset with it either. And I think that is a pretty damn good definition of what you want in your fourth line. Plus, he is decent at faceoffs as well.

EDIT: Only here would we consider Megna young but Spaling, a 25 year old former 2nd round pick, something else. Thanks to stardog and even the ever pessimistic RRP for the real low down.

 

[Fraction Jackson]

You forgot the best part of the story. Goal scorer Petr Sykora was such a leech that he actually was replaced by utility man Max Talbot and only THEN did Geno win the Conn Smythe.

There's a lot of unfortunate truth there. Super Sniper Sykora/Petr Gunn was scratched. And, on top of that, Veteran Goal Scorer Miroslav Satan also ended up on the fourth line. He might have had more fights than goals in that playoff run, though it might just seem that way because of how happy he looked bashing Patrick Eaves' face in.

Really? Well how was Sid's recent post season? Because relative to expectations his was as disappointing as Neals. Before this past post season and playing regularly with Geno Neal scored 16 points in 18 games. Geno has said on a couple occasions that Neal was his favorite wingman and the player he meshed with the best. Also gave props to Kulemin. I'll take his word for it.

Bringing up Sid has literally nothing to do with what I said. And that's using "literally"...literally. You pivoted from talking about helping Geno to talking about Sid having a disappointing postseason and talking about Neal's postseason success and what Geno said - which, incidentally, means nothing as far as what actually puts Geno in the best position to succeed, only what he likes. Mario Lemieux liked not having Scotty Bowman as his coach - and how did that work out, exactly?

There might be a point there, somewhere, in what you're saying, but please structure it less badly.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

What were your thoughts on the Kunitz trade, how about BG, Hossa Dupuis, Neal and Nisky for Gogo? Scary Gary Roberts, How about the Staal deal?

Yep, he never made a good trade.

I mention recent trades, you go to ones further back. Also, that Staal trade is still a tough one, because Staal was a huge part of this team and that loss is why people have a hard on for Kesler to resurrect that 3C model.

But again, most of those were old moves. You can't live on your past successes, because when you make questionable moves and give up youth that you need and don't address other glaring issues in front of you, of which we found out later that Shero was as big of one as Bylsma, you can't sit back and live off of that 2009 success.

You can basically use that same excuse as to why Bylsma should be kept, you know this right?

You'd still be wrong.

 

[Michael8771*]

Bringing up Sid has literally nothing to do with what I said. And that's using "literally"...literally. You pivoted from talking about helping Geno to talking about Sid having a disappointing postseason and talking about Neal's postseason success and what Geno said - which, incidentally, means nothing as far as what actually puts Geno in the best position to succeed, only what he likes. Mario Lemieux liked not having Scotty Bowman as his coach - and how did that work out, exactly?

There might be a point there, somewhere, in what you're saying, but please structure it less badly.

Ok let me simplify it. Up until these playoffs, Neal was very effective both in the RS as well as the PO's. Better?

My point was, if Sid gets a pass for his playoff performance, why not Neal?

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I have the exact opposite feeling.

Why? Because we're down a guy who scored 40g in the regular season and disappeared when push came to shove (literally) in the playoffs?

Neal is supremely talented, but he's not the type of guy we can't win without. He's a third wheel, who doesn't create anything on his own, doesn't battle, doesn't forecheck, and makes stupid decisions.

We'll see how many goals Neal scores alongside Fisher or Jarnkrok this season as opposed to how many Hornqvist scores alongside Sid, all the while being a wholly more effective hockey player. I think people really forget just how ineffective Neal was when the post season started. The only time he put up a chunk of points in the playoffs was in two games in the Ottawa series last year. He's been woefully ineffective otherwise.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Why? Because we're down a guy who scored 40g in the regular season and disappeared when push came to shove (literally) in the playoffs?

Neal is supremely talented, but he's not the type of guy we can't win without. He's a third wheel, who doesn't create anything on his own, doesn't battle, doesn't forecheck, and makes stupid decisions.

We'll see how many goals Neal scores alongside Fisher or Jarnkrok this season as opposed to how many Hornqvist scores alongside Sid, all the while being a wholly more effective hockey player. I think people really forget just how ineffective Neal was when the post season started. The only time he put up a chunk of points in the playoffs was in two games in the Ottawa series last year. He's been woefully ineffective otherwise.

Watch people give the excuse that Hornqvist would just leech, because Neal never did that apparently.

For me, a guy that scores 30 goals with the likes of Sullivan and Arnott or whomever it was, is far more impressive than 45 goals with the 1B best player in the NHL.

The same haters, will be Patric's biggest fan boys in the playoffs, watch. Hating a guy they've barely seen, I don't get that.