Just 2 teams trading for something they both needed. Calgary gets toughness, Edmonton gets a winger that may bounce back. I wouldn’t get too excited yet. Both players are slow so that’s a wash.
- K-man25

This !!! The only advantage Edmonton gets is not having to protect Neal in the expansion draft and being able to easily buyout Neal next summer.

Believe me, nowhere did say either team should be excited about this deal. The true winner remains to be seen but I don’t think you can call it successful for Calgary if Lucic gets in a few strategically placed fights, hits a few guys who just successfully passed the puck, and cashes a $5M+ paycheck. The math doesn’t work in this cap climate. It’s been easy to take a s#!+ on the oilers lately (and rightly so), but Holland deserves some props for this one, even if Neal flops as an Oiler. They’re at least going to pay someone $5M+ to play in the top 6. If it doesn’t work out, the buyout is now at least an option.
- fightobesity

I thought Neal was costing 6.25?

Reading other sites responses is reeeeee diculous. Saying Luc only has to replace hath...at a 5.75 cap hit he has to do more than what Hath did.

Also people talking about the deal... Did the Oilers not take on 12 or 12.5% of his salary? Not of his contract? That is what i have read. If its salary, its another huge win for edmonton. If its contract its another story.

I thought Neal was costing 6.25?
- K-man25

Technically Neal's cap hit is $5.75M, but if you want to include the cost of doing business (Lucic's 12.5%), the net cost is over $6M. Regardless of the arithmetic, my point was that the Oilers will at least be spending that money on a top 6 forward. The Flames are willing to spend that amount of money on a 3rd-4th line forward. In today's cap climate, that not smart spending. The Oilers should know... they're spending $4M on Russell as a 5-6 d-man. Also not smart...