James Neal Signs NHL Tryout After Nearly Point-per-Game AHL Season
James 'the Real Deal' Neal has signed a PTO with the Columbus Blue Jackets, per CapFriendly.
The Blue Jackets are pretty deep on the wings, and they are tight to the salary cap, with only $416,000 according to CapFriendly.com. It was rumored that Columbus is in the running for F Patrick Kane, and in order to do that they would have to offload cap space.
Thus, it is my belief that they want to see what Neal has to offer, and if they like what they see, I can see the Blue Jackets moving a Gustav Nyquist or maybe Jakub Voracek, but my money is on the former if anything.
Neal scored 14 goals, 12 assists for 26 points in the AHL for the Springfield Thunderbirds last season. He played 9 games for the St. Louis Blues in '21-22, managing four points. Columbus clearly sees something in the veteran, and there is a chance he can carve out a secondary scoring role for the Blue Jackets. That said, he is not the player he once was, and the speed is a major concern. Defensively, he holds his own, but I question his ability to generate offense 5v5, although he could be a useful PP2 option for Columbus. Most importantly, however, he will be a cheap option should GM Jarmo Kekäläinen opt to sign him.
( JFresh Hockey )
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noel Acciari | - | - | - | |
| Mason Appleton | - | - | - | |
| Nicolas Aube-Kubel | - | - | - | |
| Morgan Barron | - | - | - | |
| Anthony Beauvillier | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||