On July 19, Edmonton acquired James Neal, his seven goals and the four seasons remaining on his five-year, $28.75 million contract in a trade with Calgary for Milan Lucic.



The haul does not exactly compare to Martin Jones, Colin Miller and a 2015 first-rounder, which is what Bruins general manager Don Sweeney netted on June 26, 2015, when he traded Lucic to Los Angeles. The left wing, 27 at the time, had one season remaining on his three-year, $18 million contract before he would reach unrestricted free agency.



It was not easy for Sweeney to trade the power forward. Lucic, the team’s 2006 second-rounder, had compiled 566 games over eight seasons for his original organization. In 2014-15, Lucic had 18 goals and 26 assists in 81 games. His teammates liked him. The power forward was still in a productive segment of his career.



Four years later, what was a difficult decision turned out to be a prudent one.



Lucic scored six goals and 14 assists in...