As is obvious at this point, the Calgary Flames have a cap crunch. To solve it, Brad Treliving is going to have to get creative to manage his budget this summer.



One option is to trade useful guys like TJ Brodie, Travis Hamonic and/or Michael Frolik to free up some dollars.



Another appealing option would be to ditch bad bets like Michael Stone and James Neal. In Stone’s case, the team can buy out his contract this offseason will only minor consequences. Neal, on the other hand, is only one year into a five-year contract worth $5.75-million per year, meaning his buyout would result in almost $2-million in dead cap room until 2027.



With a buyout almost certainly off the table, Calgary will have to go the trade route to convert Neal’s cap space into something more useful this year. While it won’t be easy to move a player of Neal’s price and age given his performance last season, here are some routes Treliving may go try to make it...