James Neal may have left town, but he stood tall in his time with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Fans, media and everyone else in between set expectations low for the Vegas Golden Knights. In 2017-18. However, the team and coaching staff had different ideas and turned the tables on the entire NHL. The Golden Knights went out and proved everyone wrong in their very first campaign.
Just about every single player on the Golden Knights roster went above and beyond expectations. Every player bought into Gerard Gallant’s fast transition style of play, and it worked to near perfection. On VegasHockeyKnight.com, we will go over each player with an in-depth analysis and give them a grade based upon their performance during the Golden Knights inaugural season.
Today we dip into talking about the Golden Knights second forward line. James Neal provided the fans some of the best moments of the entire inaugural season. Let’s take a look at the year the Whitby, Ontario native had in a Golden Knights uniform.
The Nashville Predators held James Neal’s rights last year before the expansion draft. However, due to issues with the cap and roster management, the Predators had no choice but to leave Neal dangling for Vegas. And of course, Golden Knights general manager George McPhee had no problem in taking Neall off of Nashville’s hands.
The 30-year old is one of the leagues most consistent offensive players in the game today. In ten NHL seasons, Neal has at least scored 21 goals in each season. And the story stayed the same when he came out west to the desert.
In 71 games played for the NHL’s newest franchise, Neal compiled 25 goals, 19 assists, and 44 points. Sure, he’ll never reach the 40 goal season that he had in 2012 ever again, but he has been very consistent year to year. Neal also have the fans a lot to cheer about as he provided us some of the best moments of the season.
His strong start in October of 2017 catapulted Vegas on top of the standings in the early part of the year. It all started in game one of the 2017-18 campaign where he scored the first goal in Golden Knights history as well as the first game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory against the team that drafted him, the Dallas Stars.
He also put up his best postseason as an NHL player with the Golden Knights. In 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games, “the Real Deal” registered six goals, five assists, and 11 points. He came up short in the Stanley Cup Final in two consecutive seasons, one with the Predators in 2017, and 2018 with Vegas.
The Golden Knights are going to miss the Whitby, Ontario native dearly. He brought a ton of leadership off the ice and on the ice as well. You could make the case if Neal weren’t on the team, that Vegas wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs. The veteran forward played a huge role on this team.
However, we also have to take into consideration the kind of contract that he got offered by the Calgary Flames this offseason. To commit almost six million dollars to Neal over the next five years could’ve given the Golden Knights massive cap trouble in the future. With the three first round picks in 2017 making significant strides in their developments, it would’ve eventually been hard to fit them under the cap as well.
And as much as it pains me to say, but It was a smart move by McPhee not to overpay to keep Neal in Vegas. The plan was always to build for the future, and McPhee looks like he’s sticking with that plan.
Grade: B
All in all, it’s sad to see James Neal leave the Vegas Golden Knights. Neal would’ve gotten a higher letter grade from me, but he had too many hot and cold spells, and trouble in his defensive zone at times throughout the season. What grade would you have given “the Real Deal”?