NEAL THE REAL DEAL?
Winger says back-to-back trips to Cup final contributed to sluggish start in Calgary
Winger looks for fresh start with Oilers
James Neal sees in the Edmonton Oilers the same qualities he sees in himself: talent, hunger and a burning desire to prove he’s better than everyone thinks.
That’s probably why it took him about two minutes to feel totally comfortable here. He and his new team have much in common heading into the 2019-20 campaign.
They are both coming off frustrating seasons. They cost too much. And not a lot of people think they can turn this marriage of convenience into 20-plus goals and a playoff spot.
But Neal and the Oilers do. They believe this is the right place and the right time for both of them.
“It was a good transaction,” said the 32-year-old left-winger. “Things didn’t work out in Calgary for me and the same for Milan Lucic (in Edmonton). It’s a change of scenery for both of us. I’m really happy to be here.”
He comes to a team in desperate need of change, too.
“We have a lot to prove here,” said Neal after an informal skate with several of his teammates. “It’s about getting that belief of winning back in the locker-room and in the city. We have the right pieces. We have two of the best players in the world. Game-changers. They’re ready to go and they want to be in the playoffs.”
Neal, who scored seven goals in the first year of his five-year, $28.75-million contract (which is one more than Lucic scored in the third year of his seven-year, $42-million contract), appreciates how unusual the transaction that brought him to Edmonton from Calgary is. It’s two bitter rivals trying to help each other, but mostly trying to help themselves out of a jam by giving their biggest contractual yoke a change of necks.
As far as Neal is concerned, it’s exactly what he needed. He already feels better here than he felt in Calgary and training camp hasn’t even started yet.
“I just didn’t feel like myself (last year),” he said, adding it’s a much better vibe this year. “Coming in and getting a house early, seeing the facilities here, everything about it feels good. The rink is amazing. You spend a lot of your time in it and that dressing room is pretty awesome.
“I had a great summer of training, I’m in great shape, I put in a lot of work and I feel good, I feel confident coming into camp, whereas last year I didn’t feel like that.”
Neal has always been good for 20 or more goals per season, so it is up for debate whether last year was simply a fluke or, as the Flames would have us believe, the start of a quick downward spiral. But when a guy goes 24, 27, 22,
40, 21, 27, 23, 31, 23, 25 and seven, it might be premature to say he’s done because of the seven.
“Last year, you don’t want to use excuses, but it was tough for me. If you go to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals, the wear and tear on your body and your ability to recover and get back to where you want to be is just not there. That’s the reality of it,” Neal said.
“I was worn down. Then going to a new town, moving was a big change for me. And where I was playing (in the lineup) was really hard.”
It’s absolutely realistic to take all those factors into account and say it all added up to one off-year. But he has to go out and prove it.
The history of players who’ve come here hoping to maintain or jump-start their production is lukewarm, though. Tobias Rieder, Eric Belanger, Ryan Strome, Jussi Jokinen and Lucic were all scoring at a consistent pace before their hands turned to stone in Edmonton.
But there are cases where the opposite happened. Zack Kassian, Patrick Maroon, Alex Chiasson, Benoit Pouliot and Mark Letestu all set career highs here, so it’s not necessarily a goal-scoring graveyard.
It is, as Neal describes it, an ideal landing spot.
“It’s perfect for me. Working with Connor (Mcdavid) and a lot of guys throughout the summer has given me a chance to get back to where I need to be and want to be. I know the player I can be and I’ve proven that over the years. A little hiccup last year, but I’ll be back to where I know I can be this year.”