Neal or Benn?

[lucifer316]

personally i think they are close enough that i would likely keep the one with the lower trade value

i would probably look to try to dangle both of them with either goalie to get an upgrade in goal or see if one of them plus AP gets you Karlsson

if one of them gets you an upgraded goalie or Karlsson you make the deal and keep the other one

[2014olympicgold]

I’d go benn. With Mac he could hit a sophomore slump, and Kessel is too streaky throughout the yr. On a Kessel off week, Neal could be hurt/suspended, and you’d absolutely would die that week. Keep the reliable guy to balance out your week. If this is H2H, you just need to get 1 more point than your opponent, not 10. With 17 players on each team, your free agent crowd wouldn’t be too beneficial, so when Neal goes down, you won’t be replacing him with a stud.

[fungchen3]

Also, Neal's full multi-cat value is a bit higher i n pools with +/- and SOG... but this pool has neither.

No doubt, but the swing factor for me were PPG and GWG.

Jamie Benn (best year so far): 5 PPG and 3 GWG in 81 GP.
James Neal: 11 PPG and 4 GWG in 59 GP.

If their upsides are similar (in the 76-86 range), Neal's PPG/GWG are definitely better by far. Just assume for one second, Neal played 81 games like Benn, his PPG would be 15 and his GWG would be 5. That's a 10 PPG advantage, which is a big stat in his pool.

Benn is definitely the "safer" own, and I am usually down with the reliable and bankable play, but Neal scored 6 more PPG goals than Benn in only 59 games during Benn's career year to date. Just a couple of years ago Neal had 18 PPG - that's nasty. Benn's never had more than 6.

[Pengwin7]

1. re: GWG. The league average for game-winning goals is about 15%-18% of total goals scored.
A player that scores 100 goals, will have about 15-18 GWG.
Note that Benn has 19 career GWG in 116 G (15%).
Note that Neal has 23 career GWG in 161 G (14%).
Not all that different.
So... if Benn is a 35G scorer & Neal is a 35G scorer, I see almost no difference in this category.

2. re: PPG.
There's no denying that PIT is stronger and scores more on the PP.
I find Benn's PP goal-scoring to be low.
DAL's PP was horrible last year and was below-average this year.
Seguin & Benn are two incredible cornerstones and eventually they'll find the 3rd/4th/5th pieces.
Goligoski has shown decent improvement... but obviously that PP is missing the full wheel.
As the DAL GM is fairly new (Jim Nill), I see him making a big push to put this puzzle together.
(And obviously Seguin for Loui Eriksson was just a hint of what Nill, a long-time DET asst GM, can put together.)

Neal definitely has an edge here... but going forward, are we really only expecting 5 PPG from Benn?
I think Nill will find another offensive link to bolster that PP.
And let's not forget that Nichushkin should be a good cog.
I think that either this coming season or next, Benn will break-out for more like 10-15 PPG... and that won't be far off Neal.

We also don't really know the whole scoring system in this fantasy league.
Is GWG & PPG weighted as their own categories... or are they only a part of the full scoring?

Regardless - I've seen too much of Jamie Benn... this year.
Sign me up as a big fan and I have much more faith in him & Seguin (who should stay healthy) than in Malkin & Neal both staying healthy.

[suvojitde]

Benn for me as well. Neal is higher risk and possibly (yes, possibly) higher reward, but Benn is the sure thing. I also get the sense that he has another gear.

[fungchen3]

Regardless - I've seen too much of Jamie Benn... this year.
Sign me up as a big fan and I have much more faith in him & Seguin (who should stay healthy) than in Malkin & Neal both staying healthy.

Oh you're preaching to the choir here buddy. I dedicated an entire thread to Jamie Benn recently because I am THAT impressed with him. I LOVE his upside, love it. The more I see of Benn the more I like.

[rataylor22]

I think I'd take Benn as the safer option as well, but what I'd really do is talk to the league and get rid of it being so goal heavy. Just seems ridiculous to me.

[27Blue]

It took a long time, but it is nice to see Benn finally get his due.
Without Jagr, he would have had his 'fantasy' break-out last year.
Wait untill Dallas finds somebody who can run a PP...

[austeane]

Oh you're preaching to the choir here buddy. I dedicated an entire thread to Jamie Benn recently because I am THAT impressed with him. I LOVE his upside, love it. The more I see of Benn the more I like.

Same here, I traded high on Lehtonen to get him.
I just think Neal is the better choice here.

[Mookyshoots]

Thanks, guys. This helps a bit. Up until this season, Neal had much better forwards around him but that's quickly changing in Dallas under Nill. He killed me this season because he always got injured when I needed his production most (I lost the championship in a tie) while Benn was a rock. I think I'm going to keep Benn and sell off Neal.

[Pengwin7]

Thanks, guys. This helps a bit. Up until this season, Neal had much better forwards around him but that's quickly changing in Dallas under Nill. He killed me this season because he always got injured when I needed his production most (I lost the championship in a tie) while Benn was a rock. I think I'm going to keep Benn and sell off Neal.

A tip.
Look at the roster of the team that owns Malkin.
Ask for a pretty good player or pick and say "Are you interested in anybody on my team in exchange?"

Malkin owners, love to double up on owning James Neal.
He'll ask for Neal - and if he does it... without you proposing it... he'll be really happy when you say it sounds fair.

[donpaulo]

I prefer Benn for a few reasons

the obvious one is health as Neal is pretty much a lock to miss at least a few if not more than a few games per season so far in his career. Neal might out point Benn if he dressed for 82 games. Then again if the math is based upon Gino and his ability to play every game, the numbers are starting to look tweaked. Tons of potential for sure. No doubt that Neal is a top 5 goal scorer.

Benn on the other hand is only going to get better chances at this point in his career. His partner in crime can perhaps throw up as many points as Gino can again considering that the Russian often finds his way off the active roster. Benn also has the added benefit of faceoff wins (if your league counts that). In APBA he will quite likely be slotted as both LW and C which is a very nice added benefit. Yes Benn has also missed games but the trend appears to be away from missing time.

Finally I think Benn can create enough points on his own, Seguin only improves those numbers. Neal on the other hand needs others to produce at his top shelf self. If Neal were to play with Sidney... well thats a different story yeh ?

[Teh Doktor]

Every time there is a play where Neal goes down, you could potentially be looking at a suspension for diving. He makes piss-poor choices in terms of bad hits/penalties (which doesn't help you), and he's had some concussions (two, I think).

However, with your league being so goal heavy, I would probably keep Neal. Can't really go wrong either way though.

I would look heavily into making a trade though. Don't let Neal or Benn get away for nothing.

[mounD]

I think it's pretty simple here: if it's a H2H format, Neal's "per-game" production is probably going to outweigh Benn's consistency. If we're talking about a points-only full year type of format, then Benn is probably the better own given Neal's health concerns. My .02

[Call of Doughty]

If it was me, I'd be keeping BOTH Benn and Neal and drop Kessel. For your scoring categories both of these guys are money. If you can't, then I'd give Neal a slight advantage over Benn. He played out of his mind pre Olympic break.