While you do have value going to Detroit to take on Neal’s contract I’m not in love with it because Lagesson does little for me, Benson is nice but not great, and a second round pick is nice but it’s so far away. I’d ask for less fluff and take on Neal for your first this year (14OV).

I don't hate that Detroit deal, but i don't think we'd be all that excited about Lagesson. If you swapped him for Samorukov I'd be much more inclined to do that deal.

That won't get it done, Neal would cost Oilers 1st + 2nd minimum

If we're looking to offload salary I dont think Neal is the guy to do it with. If we dump Kris Russell we might not have to pay someone as much in a bribe, his actual salary is only 1.5mil so a team with cap room and an owner that wants to cut costs would be more interested.

We also have replacements ready for Russell already in house, the only reason we would need to move Neal would be if we managed to bring in a forward with a bigger cap hit, which I dont think is going to happen in this years free agent class.

Exactly right, we're doing the deal so you can sign your elite forward in Hall.
Think of it as Trading Neal + 1st for Hall. You'd do that in a heartbeat, and likely add more alongside Neal to get the deal done.

Leafs reject. We don't need anymore LHD and we absolutely cannot afford to trade another first round pick.