Rick Nash vs James Neal

[Darren_Kennedy]

I love this one since it would have been laughable to even ask 2 weeks ago. With Neal in the land of fantasy irrelevance and Nash coming off a slower year, who do you got over the next 3 years?

For the purpose of this thread let's assume both players stay on their current teams.

[plug]

And I take Neal with the I have absolutely no idea pick...

[Sulla]

I think the big one for me is that Nash has struggled in New York and remains there, Neal did well but has gone to a lesser situation, reminds me a little of Seguin and we all know what happened there....

btw I'm not expecting him to post Seguin numbers but will e THE guy in Nash and given every chance to succeed...

[Laendarian]

Neal, although cats and league settings would be easier to make the call

[Coyote]

Neal for sure

[mounD]

I'm actually going to take Rick Nash on this one. Nash still has a bloated contract, and he's going to be given all the topline minutes with the Rags; Neal is going to be a 25-30 goal scorer, 50+ point player without an elite Center to drag him along. Trust me, I loved James Neal as a finisher on the Penguins, but he's just not really able to consistently produce his own offensive chances. He struggled immediately after coming to Pittsburgh while Crosby/Malkin were hurt, couldn't score a goal for like 20-games or something dumb. Rick Nash isn't some ethereal stud, but he's physically dominant and knows how to produce chances by taking the puck directly to the net. Neal isn't weak by any means, but he seems to like shooting pucks from outside areas, just sniping away instead of trying to take pucks to the net. Just something I've noticed, but I would say that Nash is a much better creator and distributor than Neal.

Gimme Nash.

[One87]

Nash. Neal doesn't generate his own shot. Nash can at least do that. He's also on a stronger team. Besides any of this, I think he's primed for a bounce back. I am more optimistic about him than Neal at least for this upcoming year.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

I think the big one for me is that Nash has struggled in New York and remains there, Neal did well but has gone to a lesser situation, reminds me a little of Seguin and we all know what happened there....

btw I'm not expecting him to post Seguin numbers but will e THE guy in Nash and given every chance to succeed...

Let's not forget Nash had 21 goals and 42 points in 44 games for New York in the lockout season. I really think the concussion he suffered early this last season affected him big time. He was off to a good start, and after the concussion just never really got going after he came back outside of the one stretch of 10 or so games in January. I'm not sure how Nash will be used in New York next season, he didn't get nearly as much PP time as you would expect....it seems like he should be living on the top PP unit and that just wasn't the case. His possession numbers were great at ES, but without more PP time I don't know if he can truly bounce back.

Neal on the other hand....I don't know. It's hard to say since we haven't seen him in Nashville. They're talking about opening up the offense, but there is still no center there to really get him the puck. Jokinen's a shooter, Fisher is meh, Jarnkrok is young....maybe Colin Wilson? Neal has never had to be the #1 option on a team before, but he's going to get all of the minutes he can handle. I don't hate him in Nashville, but obviously it's a huge downgrade from playing with Geno.

So tough call, really tough. I think I'm leaning towards Nash....a year removed from the concussion, his physical play returned in the playoffs, and losing Richards means a lot more PP time just opened up.

[mounD]

Yeah, I think the major points here are: 1)Nash's concussion severely derailed his season, and compromised what was shaping up to be top-20 F value after the lockout season; and 2) the departure of Brad Richards leaves a GAPING hole in PP time for guys to fill, and you'd think Nash would be a prime candidate to absorb a good chunk of those minutes. He's clearly NYR's most physically gifted forward, and they should be giving him opportunities to feast on the PP1.

[plug]

My I do not know pick of Neal has now changed to Nash.. You all convinced me.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Another note on Nash....as crappy as his point totals were, he still scored at a 33 goal pace. The 13 assists he had last season were the issue....Nash isn't exactly Nik Backstrom but 13 assists in 65 games is not something to expect every year. If nothing else, he averaged 4 SOG per game. You've gotta think some of those SOG will lead to rebounds and goals from other players, which means more assists.

The more I think about it, the more I like Nash. Is he going to get 85 points next season? No. I had hopes for him taking things to a new level with Vigneault, and maybe getting the 80% o-zone starts the Sedins used to get, that obviously isn't going to happen. But can Nash get back to 65-70 points? I don't see any reason that he can't.

[mounD]

I can't believe I'm pushing Rick Nash on these forums, but he's actually a pretty solid buy-low candidate right now. I could even stomach him in cap leagues, provided they count SOG.

[Darren_Kennedy]

And I take Neal with the I have absolutely no idea pick...

Feels like Neal is who we think we should pick. I don't know though, Nash has produced both with and without quality players around him. Neal hasn't really proven that.

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I can't believe I'm pushing Rick Nash on these forums, but he's actually a pretty solid buy-low candidate right now. I could even stomach him in cap leagues, provided they count SOG.

Couldn't agree more. He's only a year removed from close to a point per game with elite shot totals

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Another note on Nash....as crappy as his point totals were, he still scored at a 33 goal pace. The 13 assists he had last season were the issue....Nash isn't exactly Nik Backstrom but 13 assists in 65 games is not something to expect every year. If nothing else, he averaged 4 SOG per game. You've gotta think some of those SOG will lead to rebounds and goals from other players, which means more assists.

The more I think about it, the more I like Nash. Is he going to get 85 points next season? No. I had hopes for him taking things to a new level with Vigneault, and maybe getting the 80% o-zone starts the Sedins used to get, that obviously isn't going to happen. But can Nash get back to 65-70 points? I don't see any reason that he can't.

Feels like a case of poor luck more than anything. With the amount that second assists fluctuate it's reasonable to assume he'll be closer to 30-35 assists next year

[jcairns]

I'm going with Nash. I feel like they will be very similar for points (low 60s over a full season), but I think Nash has a better chance to exceed Neal's point totals, I have more faith in him generating shots, and I think Nash will match Neal for hits this year (he was throwing his body around like crazy in the playoffs - looks like his concussion-worries are behind him finally).

[mounD]

The signing of Ribeiro definitely helps Neal's case in this argument, but I still think Nash gets the edge. Neal could be 30-30 with Ribeiro, but a healthy Nash could push 65+ points - especially if all the PP minutes are gifted to him.