Chris Neil: should he stay or should he go? posted by Chris Hofley

Most Ottawa Senators fans like Chris Neil. I do too. He's entertaining and he's a solid scrapper who can, albeit less frequently of late, chip in offensively on occasion. But -- and it's a big BUT -- does liking him warrant paying him upwards of $2 million per season to keep him in a Sens uniform? Is watching him get the crowd going by flapping his arms upwards on his way to the penalty box after a fight worth that kind of money? Does that fact that his possible departure when free agency season kicks off on July 1 warrant a two-page feature spread in Ottawa newspapers?

Nope, no and definitely not.

Lets try to keep things in perspective: Neil will be 30 when the 2009-2010 season starts, meaning he is already most likely on the downswing of his career. Since his career year in 2005-2006 when he scored 16 goals, 17 assists and was a plus-9 while recording more than 200 penalty minutes, Neil's production has been on a steady decline. He scored 12 goals and 28 points the following year and six goals and 20 points in 2007-2008. This year, Neil chipped in only three goals and 10 points in 60 games (he missed chunks of time because of knee and leg injuries).

If Neil can get back to 100 per cent health-wise, he can be a very effective chippy, strong and agitating forward playing a third or fourth line role. But is that kind of position worth the kind of cash Neil and his agent are supposedly asking for, especially considering the very capable job Jarko Ruutu did this year doing pretty much the same thing?

Again, no.

As a fan, I'd gladly welcome Chris Neil back next year, provided he is willing to take the so-called home town discount. If not, whatever salary the team is willing to give him can be better spent fixing some of the other major problems the team had this season.