Player Discussion James “The Real Deal” Neal a Flame! 5 years, 28.75 million.

[Thumper17]

Flames sign James Neal to 5-year deal worth $28.75 million - Sportsnet.ca



IT'S HAPPENING!

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[Lunatik]

 

[DCDM]

 

[JurassicTunga]

Woohoo!
Nice to get a decently big named UFA. We really needed someone like Neal.

I imagine he's gonna make some magic happen with Gaudreau and Mony or Tkachuk potentially.
Great stuff.

 

[Rubi]

Looking forward to:

JG-Mony-Neal
Chucky-Backs-Lindy
Benny-Janko-Fro
Eat Bread-Ryan-Lazar/Brouwer

 

[Tkachuky]

Loving the depth in the top 9.

Wild cards will be Smith in net and Gio/Brodie.

 

[tyflames]

Not a big fan of this contract as the money could of been better spent but we desperately needed a top 6 caliber right wing. Everyone is saying he’s too slow to play with Johnny. Ferland, not an overly slow player, but not skilled put up 20+ on that line. That line is working best when they have someone on the right side shooting the puck. Whenever Ferland wouldn’t disappear and was using his shot and driving the net. That line was unstoppable. It was the other 65 games where he didn’t. That top 6 forward group is much stronger with Neal in it.

I really like the looks of this team however I wish we had some stronger back up goaltending as you never know with goalies as they get older. My fear with Smith is that he doesn’t go back to pre groin injury form of last season.

 

[DFF]

Looking forward to:

JG-Mony-Neal
Chucky-Backs-Lindy
Benny-Janko-Fro
Eat Bread-Ryan-Lazar/Brouwer

Eat bread or whatever he is eating is not going to beat Czarnik for the job.

 

[Janks]

Wow, this significantly upgrades our team. Not a huge fan of the term, but I think this can work out well for us.

 

[DFF]

Good job BT....whatever the outcome, he is trying hard this off season. Much appreciated.

 

[Volica]

Good job BT....whatever the outcome, he is trying hard this off season. Much appreciated.

Agreed.
This gives us plenty of wing depth. We are still missing another elite talent, but the depth is really nice.

 

[Dack]

I like Neal but I'm a little nervous about this contract. It's not huge but it's not small either.

 

[viper0220]

Not a big fan of this contract as the money could of been better spent but we desperately needed a top 6 caliber right wing. Everyone is saying he’s too slow to play with Johnny. Ferland, not an overly slow player, but not skilled put up 20+ on that line. That line is working best when they have someone on the right side shooting the puck. Whenever Ferland wouldn’t disappear and was using his shot and driving the net. That line was unstoppable. It was the other 65 games where he didn’t. That top 6 forward group is much stronger with Neal in it.

I really like the looks of this team however I wish we had some stronger back up goaltending as you never know with goalies as they get older. My fear with Smith is that he doesn’t go back to pre groin injury form of last season.

The Flames window to win is now, so this signing makes sense. The contract is ok because the cap will likely keep raising and we don't have any bad contracts. This helps the team out, Neal will help take pressure of Johnny and Monahan.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Happy Birthday Methy.

 

[viper0220]

I like Neal but I'm a little nervous about this contract. It's not huge but it's not small either.

The money is ok but the term is long but the thing as long as there is no NTC or NMC, we will be fine because Seattle is coming in and you never know if Settle takes him, our window to win is now, so this makes sense.

 

[Lunatik]

Happy Birthday Methy.

it was late

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I’m not a fan of this contract, it’s to much term but thank god it isn’t 6 years. Whatever though, like Ryan, Neal is now a Flame so I’ll be cheering hard for him. Neal can score goals among the best in the league, so the Flames are better. Our depth isn’t horrible anymore, it’s now very good. There’s no spots for any young players but honestly I don’t see anyone really ready to play other than maybe Eat Bread or Klimmer. I expect Brouwer to get waived at some point and Lazar is likely some as a Flame.

Also, we in the playoffs baby.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

it was late

This deal may have been signed before midnight lol?

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

He is the perfect linemate for Tkachuk and Backlund

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm
Tkachuk-Backlund-Neal
Bennett-Jankowski-Frolik
Mangiapane-Ryan-Foo

The move looks like a bit like Trelibing trying to keep his job. But yeah, this team has needed a trigger man for a while

 

[JurassicTunga]

 

[Dack]

The money is ok but the term is long but the thing as long as there is no NTC or NMC, we will be fine because Seattle is coming in and you never know if Settle takes him, our window to win is now, so this makes sense.

It's fine as long as he doesn't decline hard. Hope he gets on that Gio work out schedule and is a top 6 player his entire tenure here.

 

[viper0220]

It's fine as long as he doesn't decline hard. Hope he gets on that Gio work out schedule and is a top 6 player his entire tenure here.

He really does not play the crash and bang game, so I don't see any hard decline.

 

[crackdown44]

Good AAV, too much term but cap will continue to rise over the next 5 years so not crippling at all.

I love it. Brad plz ship out stone, buy out Brouwer and work your RFA magic on Lindholm and Hanifin. Make my life complete

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Going back to Commodore, he was on the Fan as a guest host a few week back, he does it every couple of months. He always tells great stories about his playing days and the players. He said him and Neal are really good friends, he openly said Neal told him that he rejected Vegas’ offer of 5 x 5. Boomer has wanted Neal for a while and he told him to tell Neal that Calgary would be a great fit for him playing on the topline. Commodore just kinda chuckled and said of course I would tell him to come to Calgary because Commodore loves it here. That’s obviously not why this signing happened, but it’s a good story and for sure Commodore spoke highly of it here.

I’m actually pretty excited this happened for the next 2-3 years.

 

[DCDM]

I think we can owe Mike Smith a bit of thanks for this as well. Apparently he and Neal are good friends from back in Dallas. I'm sure there was some pull there too.