Player Discussion "The Real Deal" James Neal

[Mr Positive]

Neal is a much better net front presence then Chaisson but Chaisson is the much better PK’r. Both have a use but Neal is getting paid 2 million to much.

idk about that. The PP is statistically better with Chiasson, and many think it is because he's more committed to being a net front guy, vs Neal who likes to peal off to look for a shot

 

[AM]

Apparently Eric Francis thinks the NHL should 'pro-rate' his numbers so that the Oilers have to give CGY the 3rd since he would've hit 21 without the suspended season.

Contracts aren’t like that.

 

[Mr Positive]

Contracts aren’t like that.

lol don't under estimate this league's tendency to screw over our team. Like when we had to pay good picks to hire fired employees

 

[TFHockey]

He has got to go if we are to sign Hall in the off-season. Hey-o!

 

[craiger17]

The Oilers need to tell the league to F off if that Calgary gets a 3rd happens. We paid draft picks for Eakins and Chiarelli and then they yanked that stupid thing

 

[The Nuge]

The Oilers need to tell the league to F off if that Calgary gets a 3rd happens. We paid draft picks for Eakins and Chiarelli and then they yanked that stupid thing

if they do, you appeal it and it won’t go through. The terms stated he had to score 21 goals. That didn’t happen, so you can’t go “hypothetically speaking”. There’s 0 chance an arbitrator would allow that

 

[Dr Awesome]

1. Hopefully get Seattle to take him
2. Sheltered or favourable 5 on5 minutes ps with pp time

 

[Mr Positive]

The Oilers need to tell the league to F off if that Calgary gets a 3rd happens. We paid draft picks for Eakins and Chiarelli and then they yanked that stupid thing

It was McLellan and Chiarelli that bugged me, because they were fired. A pick paid for Eakins makes sense to me because we poached him from the Marlies. He wasn't fired.

The spirit of the rule was violated when we had to pay for those fired employees. The league could have stepped in and everyone would have understood. So hopefully there isn't a grudge against us, but if we have to pay that pick for Neal, that will be a pattern of screwing us whenever possible

 

[oilexport]

Golden handshake

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

James Neal had a great series. Always seemed to be on his toes and was never really a defensive liability (like he was with the Flames).

He and Chiasson I thought both played really well and deserved better.

 

[Aerchon]

James Neal had a great series. Always seemed to be on his toes and was never really a defensive liability (like he was with the Flames).

He and Chiasson I thought both played really well and deserved better.

I really don't get why those two didn't get more looks with McD. Neal was practically trade for to play with McDavid originally I had thought. Chaisson was resigned primary how good he played with McDavid as well. Ditto Kassian.

How many more guys we going to resign to not play with McDavid.

 

[McJadeddog]

James Neal had a great series. Always seemed to be on his toes and was never really a defensive liability (like he was with the Flames).

He and Chiasson I thought both played really well and deserved better.

Agreed, other than RNH, they might have been our best wingers in the series.

 

[wingsfan17]

Don't see how Neal gets bought out after that playoffs. He'd be a $3.8M savings if you buy him out (plus cap hits of $2m for the next 5 years), and as of now I think he's clearly worth the $3.8M. We'll see next season if he gets bought out after another year of wear.

If Oilers want to clear cap space, I think there's better "bang for the buck" in other players (players who not only could you get a better return for, but also performed
worse than Neal).

 

[Todd from Leduc]

The guy has scored 20 goals 11/12 seasons, Tipps needs to put him with McDavid for longer than a game or 2.

 

[KahunWOW]

"Great series" is a little overexaggerated imo. He was very active and looked faster than before. But he was also fighting the puck so much. It was constantly hopping over his stick and killing plays.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

"Great series" is a little overexaggerated imo. He was very active and looked faster than before. But he was also fighting the puck so much. It was constantly hopping over his stick and killing plays.

That sums up a large portion of our forwards, but he still finished a few opportunities.

 

[Beerfish]

Mike smith had a good payoff series last year as well.
Zach kassian had a nice first 20 games with mcdavid.

Neal also totally disappeared after his hot start for a long period of time.

Dump him now.

 

[Oilhawks]

Don't see how Neal gets bought out after that playoffs. He'd be a $3.8M savings if you buy him out (plus cap hits of $2m for the next 5 years), and as of now I think he's clearly worth the $3.8M. We'll see next season if he gets bought out after another year of wear.

If Oilers want to clear cap space, I think there's better "bang for the buck" in other players (players who not only could you get a better return for, but also performed
worse than Neal).

This is the key right here. Unfortunately you can’t think of him as a 6 million dollar player but rather what type of player you can get from the cap savings with a buyout. Right now he looks to be worth around the 3.8 million so I’d leave it as is.

He was one of the better players in the series.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Mike smith had a good payoff series last year as well.
Zach kassian had a nice first 20 games with mcdavid.

Neal also totally disappeared after his hot start for a long period of time.

Dump him now.

I don't think anyone's going to take Neal.

 

[CanmoreMike]

It was McLellan and Chiarelli that bugged me, because they were fired. A pick paid for Eakins makes sense to me because we poached him from the Marlies. He wasn't fired.

The spirit of the rule was violated when we had to pay for those fired employees. The league could have stepped in and everyone would have understood. So hopefully there isn't a grudge against us, but if we have to pay that pick for Neal, that will be a pattern of screwing us whenever possible

Hard to imagine there isn’t a grudge against.

Rags jumped to 2nd overall last year and jumped again - I hear crickets from media complaining about how teams shouldn’t be winning multiple years.

Already been said about the McLellan/Chiarelli picks.

The reffing - especially as it comes to McDavid and especially how it went down in that 2017 Ducks series.


If it were up to me and I owned this team I’d figure out a price structure that allows me to have the cash to compete and spend to the cap but prevents me from paying one red cent into revenue sharing.

Screw this league. Lots of talk of STHers jumping ship. I’m more pissed about the NHL than I am about the Oilers - and I am mad about them.

 

[joestevens29]

Mike smith had a good payoff series last year as well.
Zach kassian had a nice first 20 games with mcdavid.

Neal also totally disappeared after his hot start for a long period of time.

Dump him now.

If there is a trade out there sure, but I'm in no hurry to be a worse hockey club just because we have to move a guy.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Keep him another year and then look at options next season, including cost to dump him, cost to have Seattle take him. If the price is too steep vs buying him out then you always have that option to fall back on.

 

[OfCorsiDid]

Bumping this ancient thread due to an observation.

This is James Neal on March 10th

This is James Neal on April 27.

It looks like Neal sometime between March 12 and his most recent 4 or 5 games switched to a blue-tinted visor.

Now I know players usually don’t make a dramatic shift in their equipment unless something has changed. The last Oilers player I recall that had a tinted visor was Ales Hemsky who had a amber/yellow tinted visor which if I recall correctly, was due an eye sensitivity/condition.

With the extremely limited research I’ve done on the internet, apparently using a blue tint allows for less eye strain in really bright rinks.

Could something similar to Hemsky happened to Neal? Could it be covid related?

 

[Mr Sakich]

along the Covid lines, a common long term effect is reduced lung capacity. He seems slower now, I wonder if he is suffering from that? It would certainly allow us to put him on LTIR for the balance of his contract

 

[Bryanbryoil]

He's had really good jump these last 3 games. Hopefully he keeps it up and can be a regular contributor next season if we don't buy him out.