FlamesNation Top 25 of 2020: #12 — How does the Lucic for Neal trade look one year later?

How does the Lucic for Neal trade look one year later?

There’s no way of knowing, from an off ice perspective, what went down behind closed doors last year with James Neal.

Rumours swirl, legends grow, the old “toxic in the room” cliche (true or not) gets thrown around. We’ll never be able to fully know any of that until one of James Neal, Milan Lucic, or Rasmus Andersson pens a tell-all 20 years down the line.

What we can attempt to discern is: did the Flames forward group improve with Lucic?

The Flames acquired a player who, for this year at least, added an element they deemed lacking (toughness), had similar and, in some cases, better play driving numbers, and has been difference-maker at the most important junction of the season.

Did Lucic perform above expectations? In the latter part of the Flames season, maybe.

In the post-season (so far)? No doubt.

He faced some criticism for being a physical non-factor in highly contested games, specifically in games against his former club. I was actually impressed with how he handled that part of his game. He picked his spots (a suspension notwithstanding). He wasn’t running around all year trying to prove his toughness. From a purely on-ice perspective, give me Lucic all day.

Also consider the Flames were able to trim a precious $500,000 against the cap in the swap in a year where they needed to sign important RFA’s (Tkachuk, Mangiapane).

Throw in the fact they will receive the conditional third round draft pick (depending on Edmonton’s choice this may be the pick going to Chicago for Erik Gustafsson).

So, everything weighed: the Flames have extracted the most value from this deal as of August 2020.