Oilers: Something needs to be done with the James Neal contract
By Jim Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers are a team trying to compete for the Stanley Cup. They cannot afford to have too much cap space being used upon a player that is not as effective as he once was. Of course, we are talking about James Neal here.
James Neal has two years left on a contract that is worth 5.75 million. That is worth more than the new Ryan Nugent-Hopkins contract and is just too much money for a player that put up just 10 points this past season.
Neal is not as effective as he once was, and it is time for the team to move on from him no matter what it takes. Now, the Blackhawks are not going to take on his contract in a deal for Duncan Keith. While that makes sense for the Oilers, the Blackhawks believe Keith still has a lot of value to a team.
So how are the Oilers going to deal with the James Neal contract? I believe it cannot be on the roster next season no matter what. So the easiest way to think about it would be to get Seattle to take him.
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Neal has already been on one expansion team when he was with the Vegas Golden Knights after getting taken in the expansion draft. Maybe he can be taken again by the Seattle Kraken. It would take a lot of convincing by the Oilers to get Seattle to take Neal, but if the team were to offer up their first-round pick I think the deal could get done.
The idea of giving up a top draft pick or a top prospect just for the Kraken to take on some extra salary might seem crazy, but it is going to be a necessity for a team to make those kinds of moves.
The cap space is more valuable than any player Edmonton is planning to draft with their first-round pick, and it might be worth even more than that. The cap space would be the difference between re-signing a player like Larsson and adding a free agent or two.
A team trying to win a Stanley Cup cannot afford to have a contract like James Neal’s weighing them down. Something needs to be done to get the Edmonton Oilers to the next level of dominance, and the only way they get there is with a little more cap space to bring in some more talent.