3 Potential Destinations for Free Agent James Neal

The Edmonton Oilers are paying James Neal $1.9 million for the next four years to go away, and now the free agent is open for business. He's approaching 34 and production has slipped the past few seasons, resulting in the contract offers being few and far between to this point. Regardless, Neal is expected to get a one-year deal, let's take a look at some likely options:

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins could use some depth within their bottom-six and Neal could provide Jeff Carter a decent shooter. Last season Neal recorded 10 points in 29 games and had some of his best seasons in Pittsburgh. He's a great option to replace Jason Zucker or Jake Guentzel on the short-term should they go down with injury for a few games during the regular season. Neal was a star in Pittsburgh and could very well be back there come September.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs keep adding forwards under 26 but if they want to push Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev even more, they should throw in a veteran for training camp. Neal would likely get a PTO from the Leafs, and he could very easily have a one-year deal to consider from somewhere else. Neal, Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds would be an interesting fourth line in Toronto.

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks have a number of fresh faces coming to training camp and Neal could be brought into push some of the kids. Chicago doesn't have a ton of depth at left-wing so a bounce-back season could get Neal some serious minutes, including with either Jonathan Toews or Kirby Dach. Keep an eye on this one, Neal could end up in the windy city.

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