I think the oilers do that but does Tampa?

I think it’s actually fair don’t see either side willing to add but idk If they do the d swap but the f I think makes a ton of sense for both teams.

I just don't see how swapping Johnson for Neal helps Tampa in this scenario. I mean the whole point of wanting to trade Johnson is creating cap space, which isn't achieved in this offer.

Tampa says no without a second thought.
- Johnson is worth way more than Neal.
- I don't see Tampa moving Sergachev for another LHD and a downgrade on forward.

Don't think it makes any sense for Tampa. They will be looking to shed salary to be able to keep Cernak and Cirelli. I can see them moving Johnson but not to bring in a worse player for the same cap hit. Sergachev and Nurse are closer in Value but I still think Sergachev is the better player. If Tampa moves him because they feel they cannot meet his contract demands then they will be looking for a return of picks or prospects or at the very least players with low cap numbers

They remove some term and the no trade clause which could make neal easier to move being able to talk to more teams.

Hard no from TBL.
Serga > Nurse
Johnson > Neal

Not to mention TBL are in win now mode and this trade doesn’t improve their chances at all

Underestimating how much neal can elevate a pp. Neal would also be easier to flip in a cap savings trade since Tampa would be able to talk to teams with cap space to take on without sending back. Not sooo sure in a flat cap that’s possible with Johnson.

Between Johnson and Neal. Neal has less term and no clauses preventing Tampa from attempting a pure cap dump trade. Johnson might be very difficult to do that with.

Sure they do remove 1 year of term but also add a player who's 3 years older and can't play C. More to the point though is whether it would actually be easier to trade Neal than Johnson even if they were burdened by his NTC (which he conveniently waived for EDM here).

Yeah, but they need cap relief NOW, not in 3 years.

Neal will be 33 next season and you can expect regression to start. I also think his numbers this year have benefited from PP time with McDavid and Co.

He had 17 of his 31 PTS on the power play. 11 out of 12 of his powerplay goals were assisted by McDavid and/or Draisaitl

He’s been putting up consistent numbers since mcdavid started playing in junior one year on the same team shouldn’t discredit him.

Could Tampa dump Johnson without taking anything back? Unlikely with his no trade clause but neal has less term and no clauses so Tampa could talk to teams capable of making that type of trade.

They do need the cap relief now and Johnson's no trade becomes modified next year. He submits a 20 team trade list at that point. Also he is still worth his contract or at least close to it. Neal is worth nowhere near even 5 million AAV and as mentioned his regression is likely much more rapid than that of Johnson over the next few years.

See above.
Neals numbers have been inflated and I don’t think he’s going to return to his previous form entering next season at age 33

If you put together a 3-way we can look at the viability of that, but as it stands this trade doesn't help TBL with their current cap crunch. And Nurse basically duplicates Hedman's skillset, so I don't see the attraction of swapping Sergachev for Nurse. For either team, really.