im a bruins fan and that neal trade is so lopsided. neal can have a bounce back year. backes wont.

James Neal > David Backes. Flames wouldn't sweeten that deal, especially not with a 1st. Jeepers.

Neal is also crushing it all summer working out to get back into shape. Dude will bounce back.

Even if both are cap dumps, why would CGY give up two picks? are they not the same?

You were dropped on your head as a child weren't you? Repeatedly.

If Treliving accepted that trade he'd be packing up his office. Have to love that you immediately place Neal into your top six, and get back a first rounder plus another mid round pick for Backes who is pretty much a $6M fourth liner at this point and has trended down for the past few years. I think they keep Neal another season to see if he can't return to his previous 20G, 40P form as hopefully last year was a blip and not a cliff-like decline curve.

If this was being explored, a Neal for Backes swap likely includes 50% salary retention for Backes and maybe 25% retention for Neal.
Bruins get Neal at an equivalent cap hit (Backes retention + Neal's cost) of 7.3125M, 7.3125M, 4.3125M, 4.3125M. They add 1.3125M to their cap in the first two years vs. keeping Backes, and get Neal for a decent price if he's a 40P guy again in years three and four. They take on the longer term risk but the player is more likely to bounce back. I actually think he would be a good fit on the Bruins with Krecji as they are more of a cycle team than the Flames. Flames maybe entice with a mid round pick, but definitely not a first in this scenario.
Flames get Backes at 4.4375M, 4.4375M followed by dead space of 1.4375M, 1.4375M. They save 1.3125M for two years and have a worse player in their lineup, but pay less than the buyout cap hit would be in years three and four assuming Neal is actually terrible. Again, I don't think they do it as I'm sure they expect Neal to be better than last season, but if not this could be a palatable solution as Backes is at least a big RHS (which Calgary lacks in their roster and prospect system).

Calgary wouldn't throw in a 1st round pick with Neal to take in Backes.
Im not sold on Neal having a bounce back year like everyone else either. But I will say this, if you're dumping salary in Backes who has two years left in his contract, why would you take on a guy who makes 250k less for the next 4 seasons? Makes no sense.

Nothing like a good "he's in the best shape of his life" story already, he's cooked

lmao enjoy Lucic