Quoting: Brad21
Flames win easily, and it's not even that close.
Quoting: A_Habs_fan
Well Edmonton looked like they won this after year 1, but now looks like Flames win it
I fully believe Edmonton is still winning the Lucic-Neal swap but have lost the trade due to still being required to transfer a 3rd round pick. A quick comparison since the trade:
Neal (84GP): 24G - 17A - 41P (-22) 23PIM
Lucic (124GP): 18G - 25A - 43P (-14) 100PIM
I wanted to just do a quick statistical analysis of what both men have done since the trade. They have performed about equally, but all rates suggest James is still outperforming Milan given that he's put up identical production in about two-thirds the total games. There's merit there.
However, I'm not oblivious to the fact that Neal is all but guaranteed to be bought out this offseason or shipped out via other means. There's an opportunity for Lucic to pull ahead in this 'race' and truly make this a Flames' win (I'm glad he regained some form tbh, never want to see a player from my formative years just utterly drop off). This comes with its own major caveat: what happens if Lucic's season next year is absolutely abysmal? I mean like mind-numbingly bad? Would he still be considered the 'better player' because the Flames weren't wise enough to cut bait when some of that value was recaptured? Can we give Edmonton a 'win' in this case if Neal finishes the better producer over this period AND the Oilers were wise enough to walk away from the player when it was time?
A lot of this goes out the window next year if Lucic has another decent season, which is still a possibility. I just don't agree that this is a cut-and-dry Flames win: it's still relatively even that's only being pushed in the Flames' direction because of the draft picks. There's opportunity to suggest a more definitive conclusion next year but that requires Lucic maintaining form. If Milan is actual dog poo next season and costs the Flames a playoff berth/series and the Oilers opted to cut bait on Neal this offseason, I don't think I'll change my stance. Take the pick out and Edmonton wins the deal, even if both clubs got good and bad years out of their player.