He’ll be 32 when the season starts. He’s coming off of a 7 goal season. He’d get the Patrick Maroon treatment if he was UFA.
I don't see it. Neal is a leader and just made a bunch of SCF appearances in a row. He scored at least 20 goals every single season and then had a bad year. Maroon has scored more than 14 goals once in 6 seasons. He brings physicality and size, but so does Neal.
Neal would be a very good "Plan B" in UFA for teams who get outbid on Eberle, Panarin, Lee, etc.
I'd take Neal, but not at full price simply because Calgary does not have any leverage in a negotiation. Their only response could be "we'll just keep him", which is fine. No loss to us. We then go somewhere else.