Oilers parting ways with James Neal

Per Sportsnet's Chris Johnston, the Edmonton Oilers have placed forward James Neal on unconditional waivers for the purposes of a buyout.

Neal, 33, spent the past two seasons with the Oilers after being acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames that saw Milan Lucic headed the other way. His first season in Edmonton was a success, as he managed to score 19 goals and 31 points in 55 games. However, this past season was much worse, as he struggled to get on track after missing time due to COVID-19 early in the year and managed just five goals and 10 points in 29 contests.

With the buyout, the Oilers will no longer have Neal's final two seasons with a cap hit of $5.75 million on the books. Instead however, they will be forced to have $1,916,667 million on the books for the next four seasons as a result. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for Neal in Edmonton, but it is likely the career 294-goal scorer will latch on with a new team on a much lower cap hit next season.

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