Simpleton
Rejoint: juin 2017
Messages: 1,365
Mentions "j'aime": 502
James Neal may be very streaky, he's definitely in decline and the speed of the game has certainly left him behind but Ken Holland will not give up a 1st round pick to off-load his contract. Regardless of how he managed to do it, scoring 19 goals was a very real and valuable contribution for Edmonton and he may be able to make a similar contribution next season. I think Edmonton may be patient with their roster and really do have to trust that players like Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, and Kyler Yamamoto, and possibly Tyler Benson, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Evan Bouchard can develop further and therefore provide roster improvements from within. Neal can still be an effective veteran if given a limited role and some power play time. He can be bought out later, at a comparatively palatable expense, or perhaps a deal can be struck with Seattle.