Confirmed Signing with Link: [CGY] James Neal (5 years, $5.75M AAV)

[Warden of the North]

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[DCDM]

Is this official??

 

[Lurked4Yearz]

Terrible deal

 

[gdsmack267]

One of those deals where it will be worth it for a year or two but could end up being bad by year 3. Props to Neal for managing to get 28 million

 

[Price is Wright]

Five years is wow.

 

[RangerBoy]

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

The contract....ehhh.

 

[DCDM]

People are gonna look at this and see five years and think that's awful, and it's not great. But the Flames aren't playing from an advantage here. It's not exactly a secret they need goal scoring. Sucks but I think 25 extra goals from Neal will be worth it

 

[Cousin Eddie]

5 years is long but that AAV is actually really good. By the end of this contract 5.75 is probably going to be the going rate for third liners anyway with the way the cap is going. Considering it was a UFA deal this isn't so bad at all and gives the Flames a much needed scorer. As an Avs fan, I'm kinda jealous.

 

[Satan]

Not an awful deal if his scoring touch doesn’t wear out

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

5 years is long but that AAV is actually really good. ....

My first thought. The length is bad, but the $$ is about where it should be

 

[tucker3434]

Flames are better today than yesterday, but they’ll end up regretting this one.

 

[Vitto79]

Huh well they got some scoring . Better than a Maroon signing

 

[brokeu91]

Five years is a bit loooooonnnnnnnggggg

 

[Pi]

That’s a bad deal.

 

[PensPlz]

In 5 years 5 million will be peanuts.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

Meh. Sayonara.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

People are gonna look at this and see five years and think that's awful, and it's not great. But the Flames aren't playing from an advantage here. It's not exactly a secret they need goal scoring. Sucks but I think 25 extra goals from Neal will be worth it

Where does he probably slot in though? 3rd line? If he's only putting up 25 goals/40-45pts, feel your GM should have went after Grabner.

 

[Khrox]

If this is true, this isn't a bad deal. After 3 years or so, if we need to trade him, it wouldn't be hard. Assuming his body doesn't wear out (his style is pretty rough), we could eat 1-2 mil and trade him pretty easily if needed.

 

[PensandCaps]

Flames needed scoring RWs...and they got one. Neal's game won't really decline as he has never been fast. He will be good for 20 goals untill he is like 38. He needs no time to get a shot off.

Give him a lot of Ozone starts.

 

[wingsfan17]

Kinda surprised. Thought Neal would like to go to a contender since he doesn’t have a cup and it’s his last contact, but clearly he prefers $.

Don’t really see the fit unless he’s on a line with Monahan and Gaudreau, he’ll be useless on the second line.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

Kinda surprised. Thought Neal would like to go to a contender since he doesn’t have a cup and it’s his last contact, but clearly he prefers $.

Don’t really see the fit unless he’s on a line with Monahan and Gaudreau, he’ll be useless on the second line.

He was always going to a team that tolerates his dumb 5-6 year demands.
40-50 point player for 5.75 AAV isn't the best value but meh the cap might rise and Neal might learn to produce better.

 

[Stand Witness]

Neal's a bit washed up for that contract.

Best of luck to the Flames, my dad lived out in Alberta and worked as an usher for both the Oilers and Flames during his free time. Got a lot of Flames stuff from that and always enjoyed watching the Flames as my late night game.

 

[Flukeshot]

I think the Grabner deal was better value for a similar value player.

 

[wingsfan17]

Also, maybe the 5x5 offer from Vegas wasn’t true? Would be surprised if just .75 over 5 was the deal breaker considering Vegas is a contender and he already has friends on the team.