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In response to
"I mean, also the playoffs killed that team."
by
Will Hunting
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Nashville couldn't score on the power play after Neal left.
Posted by
David (aka David)
Jul 19 '19, 15:25
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It wasn't all him, but his presence helped others. We were in bind and had too many good prospects to protect during the expansion. We gambled that Vegas wouldn't want to pay his salary.
They countered by asking for our first-round pick in exchange for not taking Neal. If the Preds had done that, they would have lost Eeli Tolvanen, who looks like a stud.
The kids that we wanted to protect are the problem. Many of the ones who have come up since then don't seem like they were worth giving up.
Neal elevated us in the playoffs, and then he did the same with Vegas. Then, he left for Calgary and was...not great.
Hot goalie is certainly a huge factor in the playoffs, but Neal turned a perennial underachiever into a Stanley Cup finalist and then did the same same for an expansion team. The idea of pairing him with the best scorer in hockey is pretty scary.
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