james neal was so much better lol.

Has anyone made sense of the trade? Maybe Treliving felt Lucic was more suited for a bottom 6 role? I've got nothing.

Here is my reasoning, Neil had one confirmed case to the public where he was having issues in the locker room, he wanted to be top 6 but was not producing so he got put on the bottom 6, he did not like that. Lucic was expected to play on the top 6 for Edmonton but he wanted more of a bottom 6 enforcer role. I think both players were either not getting along with the team or did not like coaching staff. I like the trade , lucic has more opportunity on the flames bottom 6 as we have more depth than Edmonton, so he wont be expected to score as much as Edmonton expected him too.

Lucic didn't want a bottom 6 role, he wanted to be McDavid's winger and is too slow and not skilled enough to do anything in this era of hockey. There is no sugar coating this trade, it was utterly awful, Neal is not who he was but he has enough speed to be a 20+ goal scorer playing with McDavid, he could score 30 before the deadline and it wouldn't surprise me. That being said, if Edmonton holds on to him then Holland is no smarter than Chiarelli. Old players with term never work out well.

Calagary is going to watch Lucic be a pylon and won't be able to trade him. He was a terrible signing by Edmonton and a change of scenery won't help him become faster and younger. Now Calgary is stuck with him.

Neal doesnt have any speed. He couldn't keep up with either of the Flames top two lines. Doubt he lasts long with McDavid. More likely he plays with Nuge. Penciling him in for 20+ is a huge risk. His shooting percentage is low but his expected GF numbers suggest he got what he deserved production wise.

Both appear to be buyout candidates, but looking at the buyout details, Lucic's buyout is significantly worse on the cap than Neal.

Like what Logan said. Flames fans think it's easy to get rid of Frolik just for picks? Many teams are trying to shed cap, and teams that have cap have leverage. Certainly a one year rental to a likely non playoff team doesn't get you a second rounder.

If we are talking about Pylons, Neal is the biggest Pylon, he brought nothing to the flames, well he brought a bad attitude. Lucic will bring hitting if he does not score and im honestly happy with that. The flames needed a tough guy that people fear. Im pretty sure I could score 20+ goals playing with McDavid, so that wouyld not impress me much.

Spin it any way you want, Lucic is terrible, the guy just can't play a meaningful shift anymore. He's essentially no better than a 4th line policeman and is dead weight. I don't think much of Neal either but he has a much better chance of rebounding than Lucic.

Lucic doesn't scare anyone. He's just a big guy who's too slow to do anything. All you need to do is stay a step away from him and all he's going to do is get frustrated and take a penalty. He isn't worth a roster spot anymore and Calgary will learn that very quickly. Almost 6 million for a guy who shouldn't even be in the NHL is terrible in the cap world. Calgary is going to have a lot of issues in the near future, they are completely wasting the window that should have been open for their core.

I think both sides are just salty about how each player performed on their team and are happy they have someone new!

Probably. If I am Holland, I hope Neal builds some value so he can be flipped again. Get out from that contract.

Im hoping the same for Lucic, either he plays well and we keep him, or we ask him to waive his clause and move to Seattle as he is from Vancouver so its a small possibility, and he waived his clause to come to Calgary so its not impossible, but not likely

Im hoping the same for Lucic, either he plays well and we keep him, or we ask him to waive his clause and move to Seattle as he is from Vancouver so its a small possibility, and he waived his clause to come to Calgary so its not impossible, but not likely

And give up a 1st rounder for Seattle to take him. Lucic has no value and won't get anymore. I am not sure he'd make a league minimum contract look worthwhile right now. He doesn't have the speed to play at 5v5 and doesn't offer enough value anywhere else. Unless your coach values a goon he is worthless.

It's not spin. I'm well aware that Lucic is awful. Just noting that Neal has the same shortcoming limiting how much he can likely play with McDavid.

Neal is one year removed from a good season. Lucic is 3.

The incentive for Calgary, as far as I can see, is that they are $9MM (someone else's computation) or $10MM (my calculation) in actual cash money better off. Calgary isn't New York or Los Angeles, or Toronto; it's a small-market club and this figure is a substantial sum to such a team. That's a $2.5MM signing bonus per year to a free agent spread over a four-year contract. That might make the difference between signing Matt Duchene and signing Ryan Dzingel or Micheal Ferland.

You can say that again.

No doubt Lucic will waive his NMC for the expansion draft, because he wants his club the Flames to be protect another player. But no way Seattle selects him.