We have a Pittsburgh/Nashville tilt at around the halfway mark of the season so it seems like a natural place to see how James Neal and Patric Hornqvist are doing with their new respective teams.

Both are known for their offensive abilities and both players are doing a good job so far this year:





Patric Hornqvist has been the better player on the power play while James Neal has been slightly better at even strength. The power play discrepancy isn't tough to figure out Crosby and Malkin have a way of making others better.

Possession wise they are both in the same ballpark as well.

Hornqvist has a Score-Adjusted Fenwick of 56.6% and James Neal is at 55.2%, both excellent numbers.

Discipline was one of the reasons James Neal was moved out of town. So far this year he has taken seven minor penalties while drawing nine. Hornqvist has taken three while drawing six.

Both players are well adjusted to their new teams and providing positive results. They play different styles and each team was looking to change things up. All in all not bad.

Here are a couple visuals showing that both players do indeed have different styles of play. Pittsburgh was looking to get another net front presence, mission accomplished:



Lots of red near the goal cage area for Hornqvist.

As for the Predators they wanted a sniper capable of generating shots/scoring from a little further out, mission accomplished.




Seems to be working out on both fronts.

Thanks for reading!

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