Agreed, Ferland and Neal were not connected. I was using Neal as an example of the Flames being willing to pay for an offensive player to counter the narrative others have of ‘needing’ to trade Ferland because he was in line for a big raise. If he gets a big raise it will be because he proved something (+UFA premium)
There were other reasons to trade him - first and foremost for the hockey trade with Carolina (which looks like a homerun) and potentially culture issues (never substantiated). I just don’t see his salary as a big driver.
My other comment about preferring to pay for Ferland vs Neal obviously doesn’t make sense in light of the trade since it’s not clear the trade could have happened without him.
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