Uhh, I'd say the Oilers D is better than thought with Bear showing up big time, and Koskinen is able to handle a solid load of games, it's what's behind them that's concerning. Smith is old and inconsistent which is bad when Koskinen hasn't shown the ability to be a consistent starter imo. Oilers defence was *going* to play with added depth behind Klefbom but now he's out. If it is the current outlook, then that is where flaws come into play. Klefbom is the closest thing to a #1 d-man on both sides of the puck and relying on Bear and Barrie as the top 2 guys is a rough sell imo. If it's about the past, then the defence straight up looked bad.
I also think it's important to acknowledge that the Flames defence coming into the season was overrated compared to what we got, with Giordano's decline and Valimaki out. Then, when Giordano, and Hamonic got injured it necessitated players playing well above their head which shockingly results in a weaker d-core. But that doesn't take away from the real reason the Oilers D has always been considered garbage: It's a bunch of players playing 1 spot above where they should be in a lineup. The Flames D not playing up to snuff impacts none of that. It has nothing to do with the way the Oilers are conceived and feels like a contrived way to be like "gotcha Flames fans, how Oilers bad if Flames bad too?"
