Was the Lucic - Neal trade actually a win for the Flames?

[Canovin]

Believe it or not, not only Neal's contract can be bought out, he also can be traded. That's why it's a win for the Oilers

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

It's easy to downplay the start, but that was crucial for a team like the Oilers looking for confidence. Without Neal, who knows how the Oilers do? Maybe they don't get half of the results they got early on and never have that swagger to pile up points. It's a team that couldn't afford trying to find their way for months before getting anything going.

In 16-17 they also had a good start to the season and ended up making the playoffs.

 

[Fourier]

A buyout really doesn't save all that much. It's about 2 million in cap for six years plus the $750k they retained on Lucic, plus the cost of a replacement player. How is that any better than Lucic at $5.25 for three years?

It would save $3.3Meen after paying part of Lucic's deal vs $1.2M to buyout Lucic. That is money that can be used to turn a potential $5M forward into a $7M forward. It could esily be the difference between fitting in a guy like Taylor Hall or not being able to.

Beyond the cap flexibility Neal has simply been better in his role for the Oilers than Lucic was. By all accounts he has been a leader in the room while it seems Lucic was more of an anchor in the last few years. So while I personally do not really care if the Flames also won the deal it has been a clear win for the Oilers in the short run and provides them with more flexibility going forward.

 

[DJJones]

We saved .75M, got a 3rd and I would much rather Lucic on the 3rd line than Neal.

I don't really care what Neal does, it's worked out for Calgary. Neal was never going to sniff a second of top 6 time with us.

 

[Ignatius]

I liken it to Kessel-Galchenyuk in the sense that one team got out of a contract much sooner than the other would.

 

[syz]

Lucic's main contribution still seems to be turnovers at the blue line, as far as I can tell.

 

[PumpkinBombX]

Lucic is a minus player for Calgary.
of all his points this year only 4 games did his points actually contribute to the win. (they were winning or losing in the other games regardless of him being there or not)

Neal has 9 games where his points determined the win.

By this i mean, in the games these players scored, if you take away their points would they have lost the game.

 

[guzzy]

Sensational title.

Anyone who acquired Milan Lucic in 2019 with 4 years left on his deal did not win the trade. The best you can hope for is it not being as bad as originally thought.

You do realize Neal is also signed for 4 more years at 1.25MM above Lucic (Oilers cost with retention). Neal can't score after November. FACT. Look at the last 3 seasons.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Apparently Neal having double the amount of points per game is producing equally.

He had a dominant October and has been a ghost since. 5v5 has been a disaster and has been leeching PP points off of two player on pace for over 130 points.

 

[CupofOil]

We saved .75M, got a 3rd and I would much rather Lucic on the 3rd line than Neal.

I don't really care what Neal does, it's worked out for Calgary. Neal was never going to sniff a second of top 6 time with us.

Pretty much your entire fanbase and media was ready to run him out of town a week ago and now it "worked out"?

 

[guzzy]

Neal is the better scorer and will probably always score more points. Lucic does everything else better. Lucic will exceed Neal's points in Calgary last year. This trade will always be in the win column for Edmonton but i don't hate it as much as i did when it happened. Lucic has been alright for Calgary and definitely better than Neal last year.

 

[Extra Texture]

"Can a loss actually be a win?"

Good lord, no. Limited as he is, Neal has put up goals which have won his team games.

 

[guzzy]

Pretty much your entire fanbase and media was ready to run him out of town a week ago and now it "worked out"?

no they weren't. They simply asked where his physicality was in the last two Edmonton games. Big stretch there.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

Both sides got what they needed, so its win win.

Lucic has grown on me, I'd like more consistancy. Neal needed to be shot into the sun no matter what the cost, but Edmonton got a decent powerplay specialist.

 

[CupofOil]

He had a dominant October and has been a ghost since. 5v5 has been a disaster and has been leeching PP points off of two player on pace for over 130 points.

Neal has 7 more goals in 50 games this season than Lucic has in the last 2 seasons combined. Produce equally?
Lucic was spoonfed all those "leeching" opportunities 2 years ago and scored 10 goals the entire season.

 

[gorangers0525]

No, but Neal is awful too. Very rare to see a ~20 goal scorer be a disadvantage to the team, but that is the case with Neal.

 

[DJJones]

Pretty much your entire fanbase and media was ready to run him out of town a week ago and now it "worked out"?

Not for anything hockey skill related. You have one of the toughest guys in the league and he doesn't take someones head off during the most intense game of the year. He should have been throwing bombs.

No one cares about throwing hits and fighting against the Sharks. Seems like he got the message though, I actually saw him skate with the puck last night without losing possession. Crazy stuff.

 

[snipes]

“Let’s ignore the best part of Neals season so far like it didn’t exist”

 

[Emotive]

Lucic wasn’t getting it done here and needed a fresh start somewhere else, same can be said about Neal. Flames fans talk about how useless he was last year, well guess what that was lucic as well, he barely looked like a 4th liner most nights for us. Calgary wanted a more physical presence, Edmonton wanted some secondary scoring. Both teams are fighting for a playoff spot in a very tight pacific division. I’d say it was as close to a win-win for both teams as possible.

 

[Zerotonine]

Neal will have the better regular season, but if flames make playoffs lucic will become the better player and it wont even be close unfortunately and I'm an oilers fan

 

[KidLine93]

Lucic taking up a spot in the expansion draft is being overlooked. Plus you can't buy him out. Plus the best stretch of his season is still less productive than Neal has been. Plus he was a no show for the "tough" games the flames brought him in for, did he even play in the BoA? Legit saw nothing from him.

 

[bucks_oil]

If Lucic puts up 30 from the bottom six, I'd say it's a win for Calgary, unless Neal goes on another big run. Not sure what happened to Lucic's confidence in Edmonton, but he's been slowly gaining it back through the season.

Lucic at 40 points and leading the team in hits and fights is fair value at 5 million. At 30 points he ceases to be in that category of horrendous contracts and is a moderate cap anchor.

It's also only a matter of time before Edmonton slots a more dynamic winger into that #1 PP position.

I honestly did not like the trade when it was made. Lucic is really growing on me though.

The bolded is certainly fair... but I'd caution you about Lucic... he's a fragile guy these days and is aging too. I wouldn't bet on him maintaining a high intersection of confidence/health.

Neal is already a shadow of his 28 year old self, but he can still stand in a spot and rip the puck. He can still dig in the corners and make smart plays when the puck is recovered... and with time, can still find his way to open ice. Like Lucic, he's a liability once the puck is turned over, but with him on the ice, that seems to happen a lot less than it did with Lucic.

 

[HighLifeMan]

Yes it worked out for Calgary. Lucic is an immense overall upgrade on what Neal brought to this organization last year. You could say the exact same thing about Neal in Edmonton. It is a deal that upgraded both of these teams needs.

Lucic has had is inconsistencies this season, but no more or less so than any other Flame on the roster.

 

[KevinRedkey]

Neal has been better in his role with the Oilers than he was in his role with the Flames.
Lucic has been better in his role with the Flames than he was in his role with the Oilers.

I called it a win-win since day 1, and got flamed for it. lol

 

[BB88]

Neither are winners.