Pretty much every team ahead of us, and there's a lot, stayed the same or got better and we got worse. The positive posters aren't explaining why the teams ahead of us will regress to the point where we leapfrog them.
How did the Oilers get worse??? The only significant subtraction is Sekera. And while I have my concerns about this buyout It's not like he played a key role on the team over the last two years.
We are talking about a team where Wideman, Garrison and Manning played 34 games on the back end and rookies Jones and Bouchard played 24. In Jones' case a fair number were with him on the top pairing due to injuries. Throw in another 36 games from Gravel and you have over 70 games from guys who were at best marginal NHL'ers last year. At worst the defense should be slightly better than last year and if a guy like Larsson bounces back, should be, barring significant injuries, much better.
The forwards are definitely better on paper than what the team got out of them last year.
Smith over Talbot is yet to be determined but it is hard to imagine Smith being worse than Talbot played last year.
Winnipeg is worse on paper by a long shot. They lost three regular defensemen without any real replacements of note.
Calgary to my view is worse. Despite his poor early numbers Smith carried the Flames for much of the latter half of the season. From Jan 15 onwards Smith had a SV% of .910 and a GAA of 2.38 vs Rittich's .898 and 2.85. Both in 18 games. I personally think the chances that Neal out plays Lucic are very high. Tkachuk is likely to miss all of training camp. They likely lose Frolik who has played a significant role for them. Gio is one year older and Valimaki is out for a long time.
Vegas added Stone which is a big plus but they lost a good deal of their depth. And they were a team that won by getting the most out of every line. Their defense is Schmidt, Theodore, McNabb, Merrill, Holden and Engelland which on paper is probably worse than the Oilers. As good as Stone is, he's no McDavid. Vegas beats you if Fleury plays great and everyone else is firing on all cylinders. They don't beat you on paper.
SJ lost a lot of scoring when Pavelski left. 38 goals is hard to replace. Add in another 16 from Thornton (ho I still think will be back) and as of right now they lots 54 goals and 115 points plus a lot of veteran leadership. Then add in Donskoi and even Nyquist and it is hard to argue that they did not lose a lot this off season.
No team in the Pacific is a powerhouse. All of them, including the Oilers, could be an injury or two away from a disaster.
