Vegas Golden Knights walk away from “The Real Deal.”
One of the busiest teams out on the free agent market has been the Vegas Golden Knights. First, they resigned fourth line grinder, Ryan Reaves. Next, they signed one of the most consistent and best professionals in the game in Paul Stastny. Then the Golden Knights rounded out their July 1st significant signings by adding to their defense by agreeing to a deal with Nick Holden.
Although, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for the NHL’s newest franchise. Yesterday we found out that David Perron was not coming back to Las Vegas after signing with the St. Louis Blues. But perhaps the most devastating news came early this morning that James Neal will not be returning either.
On Monday, “the Real Deal” reportedly agreed to a contract with the Calgary Flames organization. Reports are saying that the deal is worth $5.75 million on the Flames cap over the next five years. I don’t think money was an issue for the Golden Knights, but the term could’ve played a huge factor in the reason why the team didn’t bring him back.
The Golden Knights have a lot of restricted free agent to sign this year such as William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, Colin Miller, Tomas Nosek and William Carrier. But that’s not all; Vegas has a boatload of unrestricted free agents to sign next year as well. Nate Schmidt, Deryk Engelland, Ryan Carpenter, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Marc-Andre Fleury will all need new deals by July 1st of 2019.
To commit almost six million dollars to Neal over the next five years could’ve given the Golden Knights massive cap trouble in the future. And with the three first round picks in 2017 making significant strides in their developments, it would’ve eventually been hard to fit them under the cap as well.
This is a good move in the long run by Golden Knights general manager George McPhee. If he and his front office staff gave into Neal and his demands, the Golden Knights wouldn’t be allowed to mortgage their stars of tomorrow such as Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki, Erik Brannstrom and Nicolas Hague.
But let’s make no mistake about it, the Golden Knights are going to miss the Whitby, Ontario native dearly. He brought a ton of leadership off the ice and on the ice as well. You could make the case if Neal weren’t on the team, that Vegas wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs.
His strong start in October of 2017 catapulted Vegas on top of the standings in the early part of the year. It all started in game one of the 2017-18 campaign where he scored the first goal in Golden Knights history as well as the first game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory against the team that drafted him, the Dallas Stars.
The 30-year old notched 25 goals, 19 assists, and 44 points in 71 games during the 2017-18 season. This year marked the tenth straight season where Neal has scored at least 21 goals. Not many players in today’s NHL can say they have achieved such a milestone.
He also put up his best postseason as an NHL player with the Golden Knights. In 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games, “the Real Deal” registered six goals, five assists, and 11 points. He came up short in the Stanley Cup Final in two consecutive seasons, one with the Nashville Predators in 2017 and 2018 with Vegas.
Neal is starving for a Stanley Cup, and he must’ve been intrigued by the Flames direction. Their roster is front-loaded with talent with the likes of Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan, and Johnny Gaudreau. Calgary’s key acquisitions of Neal, Derek Ryan, Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin could put them over the top and put them in the thick of the playoff hunt.
Next: Vegas Golden Knights Sign Defenseman Nick Holden
All in all, it’s sad to see James Neal leave the Vegas Golden Knights. He brought so many great memories to a team that has just been born. My favorite Neal moment was when he scored the first Golden Knights goal in Dallas. What was your favorite “Real Deal” moment?