This might’ve possibly been the best possible outcome for the Nashville Predators, as the Golden Knights could have snagged a solid roster piece in Craig Smith, Austin Watson and Colton Sissons instead.
Granted, the Golden Knights did get a good season out of Neal, as he did have a 25 goal season when the expansion franchise made their Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals, but since then he has been a disaster.
On July 1st, 2018, James Neal signed a five year contract worth $5,750,000 per season with the Calgary Flames, which now looks like one of the worst contracts in the NHL.