2018-19 Oilers Season Thread

[Section N]

.@EdmontonOilers and @NHLFlames are working on swapping big name wingers ��* What are your thoughts on the trade?https://t.co/VrPX2290nn pic.twitter.com/6XdxVEA7MG

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 19, 2019

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.@EdmontonOilers and @NHLFlames are working on swapping big name wingers ��* What are your thoughts on the trade?https://t.co/VrPX2290nn pic.twitter.com/6XdxVEA7MG

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 19, 2019

The potential upside of this vastly outweighs keeping Lucic on the roster IMO.

[stamphater]

I would be shocked to see Calgary do that unless we added one hell of a sweetener...

[Hugoagogo]

For the record James Neal is probably cooked. That said, he's only a year removed from 25 goals, is slightly cheaper and can actually be bought out.

I don't think Neal has any sort of NMC attached to his contract. If that is true, it is also a bonus if we want to shop him sometime in the future.

[Angelus]

yeah, pretty tidy work from Holland there. It's still a boat anchor, just a bit lighter.

[stamphater]

I cannot believe he pulled that off...

[Angelus]

I don't think Neal has any sort of NMC attached to his contract. If that is true, it is also a bonus if we want to shop him sometime in the future.

He doesn't have to be protected in the Seattle expansion draft. It's not bonus heavy so it can be bought out. It's a much better contract for the Oil to take on.

[PDO]

Can also put him on waivers and/or send him to the minors.

In the end both players might be done, but only one has a contract you can work around.

[Deathsdoorstep]

Pretty low risk move for the Oilers. Why the hell would Calgary make that deal? Hell, Neal didn't work out in Calgary, but he's not far removed from 20+ goals a season.

[PDO]

Neal was terrible last year, had significant off ice issues and this saves the Flames $11,000,000 in real dollars.

[nafnikufesin]

Cautiously optimistic about this deal. I'm not banning on Neal having a huge rebound year, but if he does that makes this deal sweeter. It's more that we've got someone that we can buyout of need be or at least an anchor we don't actually have to protect in the expansion draft. I think that's a win for Holland.

[PDO]

I'd try like hell to convince JP98 to come back and then run this:

Benson-McDavid-Neal

Benson's AHL #'s suggest he can play and right away and if Neal bounces back these are the types of players you need McDavid to elevate.

Drai-RNH-Puljujarvi

JP has always had great numbers when he plays with good players and giving RNH Draisatl gives you two real lines.

Nygard-Maroody-Kassian

Huge question mark line, but you give Maroody come fast boots on either side and hope he picks up half a step over the summer, he's really their only RHC.

Granlund-Khaira-Chiasson

I have no idea why they signed Chiasson on July 1st.

Still leaves Archibald/Brodziak/Cave/Gagner all fighting, there's a ridiculous amount of 4th line talents on this team.

Klefbom/Nurse

Nurse is gonna get paid but I want to see if he can play RHD - with his style of skating the puck out I believe he can.

Jones/Larsson

Russell/Benning

No true second pairing there but probably the best way to play it stylistically.

All kinds of things would still have to go right to make this work, including the kids stepping up (Benson/Maroody/Puljujarvi/Jones) and Neal bouncing back.... and the goaltending is still a potential nuclear bomb, but this is a good deal and opens up options.

[Beerfish]

Lucic had to go and I do not know bout the financial implications but James Neal was awful last year, at least as bad as lucic. Like stinky bad and he has had attitude issues as well in his career. I'd be very cautious about saying this is a big win for the oilers.

We now have two of the worst players from Calgary last year their goalie (even though he was good in the playoffs and neal)

[Angelus]

Lucic had to go and I do not know bout the financial implications but James Neal was awful last year, at least as bad as lucic. Like stinky bad and he has had attitude issues as well in his career. I'd be very cautious about saying this is a big win for the oilers.

We now have two of the worst players from Calgary last year their goalie (even though he was good in the playoffs and neal)

Lucic needs to be protected in the expansion draft. Flames should have fun with that.

Even if Neal is as bad as Lucic, you buy him out next year. It's a huge win.

[stamphater]

I do not understand this at all from Calgary’s perspective?

[PDO]

I do not understand this at all from Calgary’s perspective?

Lucic Makes $16M over the next 4 years in real dollars.

Neal makes $23M over the next 4 years in real dollars (I'd read $27 earlier, but that was wrong).

Add in that Neal and the HC didn't get along and Neal was getting into all kinds of trouble in Calgary and it adds up a bit.

[PDO]

3rd round pick and $750k retained is pretty rough, but still something they had to pull the trigger on. Thanks Tracksuit.

[Angelus]

Price was high to rid themselves of that contract. I liked it better a few minutes ago.

[PDO]

If they give up the third it means Neal got at least 20 goals and out scored Lucic by 10+.... so if we give up the third we're probably not buying Neal out. Was a nice dream when it was reported one for one, but this isn't bad.

Looks like either we give up a third and Neal is a useful player, or we buy him out a year from now if he's a bust. Not ideal to be doing a 6 year buyout but that Lucic contract was damn poison.

[Deathsdoorstep]

It's a terrific trade for Edmonton and after Neal scores 22 for us it will look even better.

[Sectionq]

The Leafs gave up a first just to get rid of 1 year of Marleau. The Oilers gave up a conditional 3rd which is tied to straight up performance of Neal. If he does well and is a 20+ goal scorer, they give up a 3rd round pick. If someone came to me and said to get a 20+ goal score, it costs you a 3rd rounder, I do that all day long. It also cost the Oilers an extra 500K to their overall cap hit. The Oilers gave up Lucic who:
- For 2 years in row, he barely scored. His second year, he played really well for the first half, then dropped off the face of the earth not scoring a goal for half the season. Then followed it up with being even worse. 6 goals, 20 pts is barely 4th liner numbers. You can't blame opportunity. He got lots of top 6 mins, even time with the best player in the world. He got PP time. He couldn't score.
- They lost a guy who actually laughed at the notion of getting a skills coach. After his brutal second season where he didn't score a goal for almost half a season, he was asked by Gregor at the end of the year if he would consider using a skills coach like a huge portion of the players do. He laughed at him and said he didn't need to learn how to toe drag. McDavid and the elite of the elites use skills coaches but Lucic is too good too. What an ass.
- They lost a guy who's contract is basically buyout proof.
- They lost a guy who had to be protected in the expansion draft.
- He's a guy who's needed to have a good, bounce back year and should be motivated for the last 2 years. He's in his 3rd offseason where he should "have a great offseason and be motivated" so what exactly has changed to get him over the hump?

They gained:
- A guy who except for last season scored 20+ goals 10 years in a row.
- They gained a guy who admitted he didn't come to camp in the best of shape. It wasn't because it he was lazy, after 2 years of being in the cup finals, he hadn't had an offseason in 2 years to work on his game. When you play until the middle of June, you are beat up. Some of these guys have minor/major tears, breaks, you name it. So it would probably take you a month or more just to heal. So he might not be starting getting ready for the next season until August. Then you have a month to try to get into shape before camp starts. Supposedly he has been working his ass off, doing the Gary Roberts camp and actually training a bit with McDavid. So I imagine he will come into camp motivated and in shape.
- He's got a skill set that every team needs. Goal scoring. He's a proven goal scorer.
- He didn't get much top 6 mins or PP time in Calgary, he will in Edmonton. He will also have the opportunity to play with one of 3 really, really good playmaking centers in McDavid, Leon and Nuge, something the Flames don't have.
- He's got a contract that if you had too, can be easily bought out.
- He has no clause that causes him to have to be protected.
- The coach didn't like him.

I see this as a clear cut win for the Oilers and it's not close.

[Deathsdoorstep]

The Leafs gave up a first just to get rid of 1 year of Marleau. The Oilers gave up a conditional 3rd which is tied to straight up performance of Neal. If he does well and is a 30 goal scorer, they give up a 3rd round pick. If someone came to me and said to get a 20+ goal score, it costs you a 3rd rounder, I do that all day long. It also cost the Oilers an extra 500K to their overall cap hit. The Oilers gave up Lucic who:
- For 2 years in row, he barely scored. His second year, he played really well for the first half, then dropped off the face of the earth not scoring a goal for half the season. Then followed it up with being even worse. 6 goals, 20 pts is barely 4th liner numbers. You can't blame opportunity. He got lots of top 6 mins, even time with the best player in the world. He got PP time. He couldn't score.
- They lost a guy who actually laughed at the notion of getting a skills coach. After his brutal second season where he didn't score a goal for almost half a season, he was asked by Gregor at the end of the year if he would consider using a skills coach like a huge portion of the players do. He laughed at him and said he didn't need to learn how to toe drag. McDavid and the elite of the elites use skills coaches but Lucic is too good too. What an ass.
- They lost a guy who's contract is basically buyout proof.
- They lost a guy who had to be protected in the expansion draft.
- He's a guy who's needed to have a good, bounce back year and should be motivated for the last 2 years. He's in his 3rd offseason where he should "have a great offseason and be motivated" so what exactly has changed to get him over the hump?

They gained:
- A guy who except for last season scored 20+ goals 10 years in a row.
- They gained a guy who admitted he didn't come to camp in the best of shape. It wasn't because it he was lazy, after 2 years of being in the cup finals, he hadn't had an offseason in 2 years to work on his game. When you play until the middle of June, you are beat up. Some of these guys have minor/major tears, breaks, you name it. So it would probably take you a month or more just to heal. So he might not be starting getting ready for the next season until August. Then you have a month to try to get into shape before camp starts. Supposedly he has been working his ass off, doing the Gary Roberts camp and actually training a bit with McDavid. So I imagine he will come into camp motivated and in shape.
- He's got a skill set that every team needs. Goal scoring. He's a proven goal scorer.
- He didn't get much top 6 mins or PP time in Calgary, he will in Edmonton. He will also have the opportunity to play with one of 3 really, really good playmaking centers in McDavid, Leon and Nuge, something the Flames don't have.
- He's got a contract that if you had too, can be easily bought out.
- He has no clause that causes him to have to be protected.
- The coach didn't like him.

I see this as a clear cut win for the Oilers and it's not close.

It's a fantastic trade. If it doesn't work out they can either save 3.8M in cap space by buying him out or leave him unprotected in 2021 for Seattle.

Just looking at the Oilers chart you can see the massive amount of cap space they will have in 2021-22, when McDavid still have 5 years left on his deal and is only 24 years old.

So much deadweight starts to come off the books next summer. The rest the summer after.

The Lucic-Neal trade put the Oilers in a much, much better position. Lucic was so clearly part of the problem in Edmonton. Terrible contract, terrible attitude. And a shot at 97 on the way out the door. Good riddance!

[Angelus]

I think people are being way too optimistic on Neal. The NHL is different now. Once a player declines, that's it. I think it's a lot more likely he's bought out next summer than not.

[Angelus]

It's a terrific trade for Edmonton and after Neal scores 22 for us it will look even better.

Wasn't it you who told me it's impossible to trade Lucic?

[Deathsdoorstep]

Wasn't it you who told me it's impossible to trade Lucic?

Indeed I did. Happy to have been wrong. Even more happy with a trade that not only rids us of Lucic, but makes Calgary weaker.

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I think people are being way too optimistic on Neal. The NHL is different now. Once a player declines, that's it. I think it's a lot more likely he's bought out next summer than not.

You may well be right. But the Oilers are in a way better position with Neal than with Lucic.

[Angelus]

You may well be right. But the Oilers are in a way better position with Neal than with Lucic.

Oh, 100% agreed.

[Sectionq]

I think people are being way too optimistic on Neal. The NHL is different now. Once a player declines, that's it. I think it's a lot more likely he's bought out next summer than not.

You are right, the NHL is different so there is no guarantee that Neal will have the success he's had in the past. But on the Oilers he's going to get top 6 mins, he's going to get PP time and he's going to be playing with a center who can get him the puck in good spots to shoot. All he has to do is get his shot off. Lucic has been tried in the top 6 and on the PP for the last 2 years and it didn't work. They finally gave up last year and dropped him down. On the Flames, he's not going to be in the top 6 or get PP time. So he will be on the 3rd line playing with who? Bennett and Ryan? Those guys are 3rd liners. So if he couldn't produce points playing with McDavid and Nuge, the chances of him producing anything more than a 3rd liner with the Flames is pretty slim. So realistically, if he scores 10 goals and 25 pts, that's probably it. So there is a much better change that Neal can give you high teens or more than 20 goals just standing in a spot waiting to get fed pucks if needed.

Plus if Neal doesn't work out, you can expose him to the expansion draft which you couldn't with Lucic unless he allowed it AND if you absolutely had too, you can buy him out and get some actual cap relief vs Lucic was basically buyout proof. Plus Lucic needed to go. It hasn't worked for 2+ yrs, he wasn't happy, he was open to go. When a guy isn't producing and isn't happy and would like to leave, that has to have an affect on the dressing room even a bit. So even if Neal doesn't work out and produces the same level of production as last year, it's still a good trade.

[Angelus]

You are right, the NHL is different so there is no guarantee that Neal will have the success he's had in the past. But on the Oilers he's going to get top 6 mins, he's going to get PP time and he's going to be playing with a center who can get him the puck in good spots to shoot. All he has to do is get his shot off. Lucic has been tried in the top 6 and on the PP for the last 2 years and it didn't work. They finally gave up last year and dropped him down. On the Flames, he's not going to be in the top 6 or get PP time. So he will be on the 3rd line playing with who? Bennett and Ryan? Those guys are 3rd liners. So if he couldn't produce points playing with McDavid and Nuge, the chances of him producing anything more than a 3rd liner with the Flames is pretty slim. So realistically, if he scores 10 goals and 25 pts, that's probably it. So there is a much better change that Neal can give you high teens or more than 20 goals just standing in a spot waiting to get fed pucks if needed.

Plus if Neal doesn't work out, you can expose him to the expansion draft which you couldn't with Lucic unless he allowed it AND if you absolutely had too, you can buy him out and get some actual cap relief vs Lucic was basically buyout proof. Plus Lucic needed to go. It hasn't worked for 2+ yrs, he wasn't happy, he was open to go. When a guy isn't producing and isn't happy and would like to leave, that has to have an affect on the dressing room even a bit. So even if Neal doesn't work out and produces the same level of production as last year, it's still a good trade.

Yeah, I know. You are preaching to the choir. I've talked at length about how Neal's contract is vastly better than Lucic's.

I'm just saying, if you think Neal is going to come in and be a top 6 guy who scores 20, I think you are likely to be disappointed.

[Sectionq]

Yeah, I know. You are preaching to the choir. I've talked at length about how Neal's contract is vastly better than Lucic's.

I'm just saying, if you think Neal is going to come in and be a top 6 guy who scores 20, I think you are likely to be disappointed.

I am not expecting him to score 30 goals but I don't think given the opportunity he will get and the centers he will play with that scoring 20 is far fetched. If he scored 20 goals this season and you decided you wanted to trade him to free up money or roster space, I think you could probably find a taker. Maybe you don't get a ton but someone would probably take him because teams need goals and you wouldn't be taking back a garbage contract. We just saw, you can trade Lucic but it takes taking potentially bad money back to do it. So cap wise, you don't get any help.

Personally, I am still in shock that Calgary made this trade. I thought if by miracle a Lucic trade happened, I thought you would be taking back a bad contract like an Eriksson. A grossly overpaid guy who won't bring you a lot offensively but he's a different type of player so it's more of just changing out underperforming guy, for underperforming guy. Maybe you get a refresh in the dressing room. Maybe you get lucky and he can fill in some bit part so you are least get a tiny bit of value where as Lucic wasn't giving you anything but overall, you still have a player on a horrible contract not doing much to help you win. OR I thought the Oilers would have to eat at least 50% plus give up an asset to get rid of Lucic. They got back a guy who there is a risk he won't do anything but there is actually a reasonable chance he helps your team. He would come to the Oilers and slide into a role that except for Calgary where he really wasn't allowed to be that, its a role he's done over his entire career and excelled at.

[PDO]

I don't think anyone anywhere is saying this is a bad deal for the Oilers.

Essentially one of two things happen:

1) Neal bounces back, is a good contributor and sticks around for a bit as an overpaid complimentary piece that can pot 20+ goals a year.
2) Neal doesn't bounce back and is bought out, something that the structure of Lucic's contract made impossible.

Hope like hell for 1 but expect 2.

I suppose there's a third option where he is flipped again, but I see that as being unlikely for a ton of reasons.

[Hugoagogo]

With the new #JetSpeedFT2 stick, @CMcDavid97 can shoot...and score from everywhere. Literally. pic.twitter.com/82Jq2kxufk

— CCM Hockey (@CCMHockey) July 26, 2019