Forward James Neal has signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the St. Louis Blues. This signing comes after Neal joined the team on a professional tryout.
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James Neal Signs With St. Louis
After a disappointing last season, Neal surprised everyone by leading the Blues in preseason goals with four in five games. In 29 games last season with the Edmonton Oilers, he put up 10 points, evenly split between goals and assists. He had more minutes in penalties than points and averaging slightly over 12 minutes of ice time per game. However, his advanced numbers tell a different story. With a 55.9% Corsi For and a 7.3 relative Corsi, Neal helped the Oilers control the puck when he was on the ice. In his long 13-year career, he’s played 850 games, scored 294 goals, assisted on 261, and racked up 555 points.
How This Affects St. Louis
St. Louis is a solid team through 3 lines, and have enough depth physicality and scoring to beat some good teams. However, their fourth line is up in the air. This is where James Neal can slide into the starting roster and claim the left wing on the fourth line. But it doesn’t seem he’s going to be a lock to start. Ivan Barbashev has been a near consistent starter for them, so he’ll likely start on the fourth line center position. Mackenzie MacEachern is the main competition for Neal. Also a left winger, MacEachern is looking to solidify his spot on the roster.
Overall, this move by the Blues is slightly confusing. They have enough depth where they don’t desperately need a regressing, 34-year-old forward. Maybe they signed him to make some competition and players work hard for their roster spots. Maybe they felt their depth wasn’t good enough to compete with top teams. Whatever the reason, this cheap signing could work magic for them if Neal keeps up his scoring ways.
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