Value of: Dumping James Neal

[YP44]

Maybe Neal will be like Penner in LA. His regular season sucked and everyone thought LA over-payed and was wasting cap space on him. Then playoffs rolled around and Penner was exactly what LA needed. Scored big goals and played with a presence. The Flames should wait till this post season run to truly see if Neal is who they thought he was. All it will take is one clutch goal and the fans and organization will be Neal supporters.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Neal isn’t unmovable but you’d have to retain and move a positive asset with him. I’m not sure that’s wise unless back into a corner cap wise which at the moment the Flames aren’t

 

[GOilers88]

Regardless of the happy sentiment expressed here by some flame fans, the Neal contract is a disaster and happily the Flames are stuck with him for the next many years...but by all means Flame fans...continue to whistle past the graveyard...most amusing!

I mean, they're right there with Winnipeg and Nashville as best team in the west. I really don't think anyone is worried about a slump.

 

[qwerty]

There seems to be a lot of optimistic fans in here that Neal will somehow figure things out in the playoffs, but there’s also a really good chance he does jack all.

For contending teams, bad contracts can make a big difference because the top teams generally don’t have these kinds of weaknesses. So to me, the idea of shipping Neal out isn’t a bad idea. It’s actually good due diligence. Unfortunately I don’t think Neal gets traded for anything more than a comparable contract. The thing I wonder is what’s being said in the board room in team meetings. Treliving seeemed to have a touch of concern in an interview speaking about Neal months ago, I can’t imagine it’s gotten much better since.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

Nothing wrong with Neal, he will be our secret weapon in the bottom 6 come playoffs

It’s a little bit cocky to be assuming playoffs with 30 games left.

I think he should be renamed to James “Nodda Big Deal” Neal. I would flip Lucic for him though.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

It’s a little bit cocky to be assuming playoffs with 30 games left.

I think he should be renamed to James “Nodda Big Deal” Neal. I would flip Lucic for him though.

Considering the likely cutoff for playoffs in the west at this point is like 88 points, the Flames are at 73 points with 29 games to go. I think us getting 15 points in 29 games is a pretty safe bet.

You say cocky, but we'd have to be shitting on our team pretty hard to think they go less than 7-21-1 for the rest of the season.

 

[DFF]

It’s a little bit cocky to be assuming playoffs with 30 games left.

I think he should be renamed to James “Nodda Big Deal” Neal. I would flip Lucic for him though.

Cocky?
I think we are talking about the flames not the oilers

 

[InfinityIggy]

Considering the likely cutoff for playoffs in the west at this point is like 88 points, the Flames are at 73 points with 29 games to go. I think us getting 15 points in 29 games is a pretty safe bet.

You say cocky, but we'd have to be ****ting on our team pretty hard to think they go less than 7-21-1 for the rest of the season.

Hey that is some very cocky math you're doing there.

 

[Sabrefan99]

What about Kyle Okposo for James Neal...I’m sure the Sabres would be willing to throw in a later pick. They both look like they could use afresh start.

 

[DCDM]

It’s a little bit cocky to be assuming playoffs with 30 games left.

I think he should be renamed to James “Nodda Big Deal” Neal. I would flip Lucic for him though.

Lucic has even less value than Neal. Neal would be deadly on McDavid's wing, Lucic is just a boat anchor.

 

[Lunatik]

Lucic has even less value than Neal. Neal would be deadly on McDavid's wing, Lucic is just a boat anchor.

Since I don't think Neanderthals knew how to swim, he could literally be used as a boat anchor

 

[GoldenSeal]

Once the playoffs start, you'll be happy to have him.

 

[Marty Straka]

Seeing as it’s increasingly unlikely that Mark Stone signs in Ottawa I’m sure you can fit him into a deal to Ottawa because we will need to reach the floor somehow.

 

[Rockmorton]

Regardless of the happy sentiment expressed here by some flame fans, the Neal contract is a disaster and happily the Flames are stuck with him for the next many years...but by all means Flame fans...continue to whistle past the graveyard...most amusing!

Um. The Flames are tops in the Western Conference and one of the highest scoring teams in the league, without Neal. No need to panic in year one of his deal.

No graveyard, just whistling.

 

[BigHabs]

I wonder if they would be interested in a deal around:

Neal
+

For

Alzner
Hudon
+

 

[CraigsList]

It’s a little bit cocky to be assuming playoffs with 30 games left.

I think he should be renamed to James “Nodda Big Deal” Neal. I would flip Lucic for him though.

I'm sure you would.

No one is paying for Lucic, not even your rivals who aren't that dumb to take on that contract.

 

[CupInSIX]

I wonder if they would be interested in a deal around:

Neal
+

For

Alzner
Hudon
+

Why do the Habs do this?

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Alzner

 

[BigHabs]

Why do the Habs do this?

Get a high pick out of it like a 2nd if we send back a 3rd or 4th.

Montreal can do a buy out if it really comes down to Neal declining hard. I think maybe a new system and hitting reset he might be ok for the next two years before we see big decline.

 

[CupInSIX]

Get a high pick out of it like a 2nd if we send back a 3rd or 4th.

Montreal can do a buy out if it really comes down to Neal declining hard. I think maybe a new system and hitting reset he might be ok for the next two years before we see big decline.

They're better off just burying some of Alzner's cap next season then buying him out. If they bought out Neal in a year it would eat up almost 2m of their cap for 6 years.

They won't have tons of cap space for very long. They shouldn't take on cap dumps that's more than 2 years.

 

[BigHabs]

They're better off just burying some of Alzner's cap next season then buying him out. If they bought out Neal in a year it would eat up almost 2m of their cap for 6 years.

The purpose is to hopefully get this year and next year out of him then it’d 3 years left.

 

[Lunatik]

It’s a little bit cocky to be assuming playoffs with 30 games left.

I think he should be renamed to James “Nodda Big Deal” Neal. I would flip Lucic for him though.

It's cocky to think you will be a playoff team when you are 2nd in the NHL in the beginning of February?

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

James Neal’s shooting percentage is #unsustainable. We will be happy with him once playoffs roll around.

healthy scratched

 

[Langdon Alger]

Good luck getting rid of him unless you buy him out.

 

[go4hockey]

Calgary has enough good contracts that Neal can be absorbed.

Perhaps he can be moved back to LV since they wanted him on the offseason.

They didn’t want him at the price he was signed for. Plus they have picked up good forward since then so they would have no interest.