James Neal will score 50+ goals this year

[Barrsy]

Reality. Neal wasn’t a fit for Calgary. Taking on Lucic, whose in the conferference, for a player who can still produce is absolutely awful. Not giving Neal another year before sending him out for complete minimum was another by Calgary. Just a twainwreck in general by Calgary here.

Its unbelievable how bad it is. What makes it doubly funny is the spin the Calgary fans put on it that "he was never going to be a fit" and "the only reason hes scoring is cause of McDavid". To funny. Just an embarrassing bad trade exacerbated by the incredibly weak and uninformed justification.
Funny

 

[Snowpants]

Its unbelievable how bad it is. What makes it doubly funny is the spin the Calgary fans put on it that "he was never going to be a fit" and "the only reason hes scoring is cause of McDavid". To funny. Just an embarrassing bad trade exacerbated by the incredibly weak and uninformed justification.
Funny

it makes me laugh Flame fans think it is even a good argument that Neal did not fit on their team

Right before he was a Flame he was on two teams who. Went to the Finals. Now right after he is playing very well on a 6-1 team with more goals already than all last season

Swems maybe Calgary was the one doing something wrong hmm???

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

It gets overlooked, but Neal even saved a goal with some solid defensive stickwork in that game against the Flyers. Hockey IQ is off the charts, that's why he can still play even though he's old and slowing down.

 

[McYoungGuns]

No one is disputing that.

What people are disputing is whether Neal would have had the same success in Calgary. As stated, Neal was not beating out any of Monahan, Gaudreau, Lindholm, or Tkachuk for first line or PP time. Neal is only seeing success in Edmonton riding shotgun to McDavid. The only real playmaker in Calgary is Gaudreau. Neal was too far down on the depth chart to get any time with Gaudreau.

Truth of the matter is that Calgary has no player that is even close to Drai let alone McDavid, so ofc Neal a sniper would struggle there.

Neal plays on the top PP here but 2nd line Es with RNH

 

[jcorb58]

Lucic just got his 1st assist,

 

[blankall]

Lucic just got his 1st assist,

He would have got a 2nd too, but it was an own goal so only an assist to the last player who touched it. It was Lucic that created the okay play and too the initial shot though.

 

[nturn06]

Lucic just got his 1st assist,

Wow, this is huge, probably deserves its own thread.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Lucic > Neal

 

[tmurfin]

it makes me laugh Flame fans think it is even a good argument that Neal did not fit on their team

Right before he was a Flame he was on two teams who. Went to the Finals. Now right after he is playing very well on a 6-1 team with more goals already than all last season

Swems maybe Calgary was the one doing something wrong hmm???

Flames were first in the West last year just FYI. Not sure what they were doing wrong, weren’t desperate enough to force feed him top 6 time I guess. Meh, life goes on, Lucic actually had a great game tonight

 

[Fig]

James N34L

That's my prediction.

 

[Akrapovince]

I feel like the flames mentality behind reasoning with this trade can be summed up with the following analogy:

Trading a brick of gold for a penny because the brick of gold was never going to fit in your wallet anyways. (And that you already have other bricks of gold at home)

For those that need help, Milan Lucic isn’t the brick of gold here.

With that being said though, I don’t see a situation where Flames could win a trade involving James Neal.

I’d say the trade was a win for the Oilers, and a sideways neutral step for the Flames. Back on topic though I think he can score between 20-25 goals this year. Waiting for the slump.

 

[TheDanceOfMaternity]

If Gonchar could do it, why not Neal?



/old hfboards classic that no one else will remember

 

[Snowpants]

Flames were first in the West last year just FYI. Not sure what they were doing wrong, weren’t desperate enough to force feed him top 6 time I guess.

Yes Predator and Vegas were desperate... desperate all the way to the Finals

While Calgary choked in the first round

Again which one is not like the others???

Meh, life goes on, Lucic actually had a great game tonight

When peak Lucic usefulness is 7th most ice time of your forwards and one assist:

 

[Voight]

Wait, so when the Oilers traded 60 point Hall and he turned into an MVP, why were they getting torched for trading an elite MVP caliber forward?

Furthermore, the team they traded Neal to wasn't some out of conference opponent, it was their top division rival that they not only handed a top 6 forward to but also took their worst contract from and as I said before, it's a loss because it's a worse contract for minimal at best on ice performance if that. Spin it any way you want, Calgary got hosed.

Hall scored 65 on an absolute garbage team....... he had scored 80 2 years before that and clearly had potential.

Devils didn't make the trade thinking they were getting a 60 point winger.

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

No idea how many goals he will score but I can give you another prediction:

At least around 10 more threads with this topic that lead to absolutely nothing.

 

[Snowpants]

No idea how many goals he will score but I can give you another prediction:

At least around 10 more threads with this topic that lead to absolutely nothing.

I would not say nothing

They are at least good for being able to laugh at Flame fans like the ones above who think this was a good trade for them

free comedy is always great

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

I would not say nothing

They are at least good for being able to laugh at Flame fans like the ones above who think this was a good trade for them

free comedy is always great

Can't we just laugh at them because they are Flames fans?

 

[1865]

Edmonton's team shooting % is insane and we know that doesn't tend to persist. McDavid and Drai maybe, but not the rest of them.

 

[JFHockey]

Even after his hot start and gaining his confidence, I still wouldn't be surprised if he had streaks of 15-20 games without scoring. He played at the level of an AHL call up who should be sent back down for the entirety of last season. I still think the flames have up too early on Neal, but if he gets a little snakebite and moved away from Drai and McD, things could bleak for him real fast.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

I mean ... its possible he scores 50.

Its also possible that he slows down a bit from this completely ridiculous start that is almost not sustainable, as he has a shooting %age of like 37%.

Which seems more likely: he continues scoring at this rate OR goes back down to his career average + a bit more due to a favourable situation?

 

[CatOTails]

Sure he does.
Also he'll be netting bout 12 in playoffs . Last one in OT of SCF game 6 with Oilers defeating Sabres.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Even if Neal scores 50, the Flames don’t lose the trade because as a Flame he would have scored 10% of that, i.e., 5 goals.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Even if Neal scores 50, the Flames don’t lose the trade because as a Flame he would have scored 10% of that, i.e., 5 goals.

even if Neal scores 25, the Flames still lose that trade cause they still have a 5.25 million dollar 4th liner with a NMC and a buyout-proof contract

 

[CupofOil]

Hall scored 65 on an absolute garbage team....... he had scored 80 2 years before that and clearly had potential.

Devils didn't make the trade thinking they were getting a 60 point winger.

He had 38 points in 53 games and 65 points the final 2 seasons in Edmonton. 80 point Hall was a distant memory when he was dealt which is why he was only worth a Larsson.

The Oilers didn't make the trade thinking they were getting a 7 goal Neal either. They were looking at the guy who scored 20+ goals for 10 straight seasons prior to that.

 

[Kranix]

50? Try like 90+