Have we gotten better or worse?

[KneeOnKnee]

Title says it all, been watching all the teams tinker with their lineups, the Flames are going to be tougher, the Leafs are looking to improve. While all we done was unload some bad contracts and free up cap space, added some question marks in Strome. I guess what I am really getting at is that our window has finally opened and we are spinning our tires by a lot of small move and general inactivity.

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[McDoused]

Even if we got worse we are still one of the best teams in the division.

 

[Soundwave]

About the same.

Before someone comes in yelling "Eberle!", he had 16 goals going into game 81 of this season and we would've won at least one or both of those games versus Vancouver.

There's a fair shot Strome outscores Eberle in the playoffs too.

There's a fair chance we are better next year just because of internal growth.

 

[Seachd]

So you're not really asking, you're telling.

Let's keep in mind that if offseason opinions meant anything at all, we wouldn't have needed to worry about the playoffs at all this spring.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Better if winning the Stanley Cup is the goal.

Eberle was a liability in the playoffs and I believe his points will be more than replaced in the regular season by Strome and PJ, and Strome will be a highly motivated player with some finish and hopefully a modicum of jam to his game.

A years worth of experience including a great playoff push will add far more than anticipated to our young players ability to compete in tight tough games. Internal growth will factor huge in players like Nurse, Benning, Larson, Klefbom, Cagguila and Slepyshev not to mention 29 & 97.

Lucic I believe will come to camp a bit lighter and faster, and his second year will be much better than his first. RNH will also be better offensively. Can he win more draws? And don't forget addition by subtraction with Pouliot.

As has been said a lot of mistakes are made in free agency.

We may not equal 103 points but I believe we will be better when it matters most, come playoff time.

 

[Louis Cypher]

Hate to be negative but I felt we got lucky last year. A few good teams under performed in our conference. We had a favorable schedule and we were pretty healthy all year. Quite a few improved teams this year, maybe a bounce back from a couple and I think we got worse losing Pouliot, Reinhart and Pitlick as depth players. Ebs and Strome will be a wash I think. Can only hope the experience and extra year for our team keeps us in the race. Breaking a 100 points I don't see this year. Hope I am wrong.

 

[Smartguy]

Hate to be negative but I felt we got lucky last year. A few good teams under performed in our conference. We had a favorable schedule and we were pretty healthy all year. Quite a few improved teams this year, maybe a bounce back from a couple and I think we got worse losing Pouliot, Reinhart and Pitlick as depth players. Ebs and Strome will be a wash I think. Can only hope the experience and extra year for our team keeps us in the race. Breaking a 100 points I don't see this year. Hope I am wrong.

While I agree we were lucky for once to stay relatively healthy, Pouliont/Reinhart were hardly contributing players to this team last year as far as depth, Reinhart didn't even sut up? Pitlick was good depth but even he didn't play after 30 games and we survived without him. It's amazing you would think 3 marginal NHLers caused our success last year haha

We stayed the same on paper, but I think it's safe to assume Klef could grow off last years successful season. Mcdavid is probably a lock for the NHL top point getter again. Drai was a beast in the playoffs wouldn't surprise me at all if by mid season we have to very dangerous lines because of separating him and Mcdavid. I think it's safe to assume that one of cagguila/Slepyshev could grow off last season into a top 6 forward.

So just based off last year being good for development I'm going to say we stay relatively the same. Competing for the division lead right down to the last game, potentially winning it. We were almost conference finalists last year. Hard to grow to much off that without winning a cup

 

[McDrai]

Downgraded from Eberle to Strome
Bought out Pouliot
Lost Reinhart, Oesterle, Pitlick (all good depth players who could step into lineup)
Sekera out to start the year
We're worse for sure but probably still playoff calibre though

 

[Soundwave]

Downgraded from Eberle to Strome
Bought out Pouliot
Lost Reinhart, Oesterle, Pitlick (all good depth players who could step into lineup
Sekera out to start the year
We're worse for sure but probably still playoff calibre though

Hockey doesn't work like that, where it's played on paper/on a spreadsheet.

McDavid, Draisaitl, Klefbom, even Nugent Hopkins could be better next year. Nurse/Bennett too.

If McDavid improves his shot like he's talking about IMO, we could see an elevation to a 110-120 point level.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Hate to be negative but I felt we got lucky last year. A few good teams under performed in our conference. We had a favorable schedule and we were pretty healthy all year. Quite a few improved teams this year, maybe a bounce back from a couple and I think we got worse losing Pouliot, Reinhart and Pitlick as depth players. Ebs and Strome will be a wash I think. Can only hope the experience and extra year for our team keeps us in the race. Breaking a 100 points I don't see this year. Hope I am wrong.

I guess I agree.

We were aiming for bubble team last year and other teams fell off. We didn't really "finish strong" so much as we ...steadily ....ground through the stretch and playoffs.

That said there were some big underperformers last year.

As much as Maroon and Leon got hot so too did RNH, Ebs, Pouliot and to some extent Lucic miss chances. The refs screwed the Oilers out of games (see; Kassian had 6 goals waived off) and the 3c formula never really took shape.

My guess is the finished product will be a faster team with hopefully some more chemistry and maybe a touch better at rolling 3 lines, a marginally improved PP potentially at the expense of Pk.

They may very well have a better team and have a harder time making the playoffs if LA, Arizona and Vancouver stay in the mix.

I think you may still see another "big" change this offseason though.

Summary; Yes they are better.

 

[Hemsky is a gangsta]

Worse on paper but if McDavid hits another level (110-120 points) no one will notice

 

[Wheathead]

I think the subtraction of Eberle and addition of Strome makes us better.

 

[Soundwave]

I think the subtraction of Eberle and addition of Strome makes us better.

It'd quite possible in a playoff round Strome has better numbers than what Eberle put up. That's a pretty low bar.

 

[oil4life97]

Offseason is over already?! Not commenting on threads like this till opening night roster is set.

 

[Soundwave]

Hate to be negative but I felt we got lucky last year. A few good teams under performed in our conference. We had a favorable schedule and we were pretty healthy all year. Quite a few improved teams this year, maybe a bounce back from a couple and I think we got worse losing Pouliot, Reinhart and Pitlick as depth players. Ebs and Strome will be a wash I think. Can only hope the experience and extra year for our team keeps us in the race. Breaking a 100 points I don't see this year. Hope I am wrong.

I actually don't see many teams that have improved. Dallas is maybe the main one.

San Jose lost Marleau, LA hasn't done crap, and McPhee has put together a garbage roster in Vegas that we get to play 4-5 times a year now.

IMO Calgary blew it by rolling the dice on goaltending again. Smith hasn't had a good season in six years and is 35 years old ... they had a chance to get Fleury or Bishop and they blew it.

The weakest division in hockey likely got weaker and we stand to benefit.

 

[McDrai]

Hockey doesn't work like that, where it's played on paper/on a spreadsheet.

McDavid, Draisaitl, Klefbom, even Nugent Hopkins could be better next year. Nurse/Bennett too.

If McDavid improves his shot like he's talking about IMO, we could see an elevation to a 110-120 point level.

That's a possibility for sure, I'm just saying we are worse on paper. Who knows what next season will bring?

 

[Aerrol]

Worse on paper with room for being about the same if a few players develop decently. It would require eye popping development from two of our important younger players for us to really be improved.

E.g. McDavid scoring 10 more pts, Drai scoring the same centring his whole line all year, Klef/Lars putting up a few more points while being more consistent defensively, Nurse improving greatly, Pulju improving into a top 6 winger, Strome not being hot garbage etc.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Worse.

 

[Soundwave]

If McDavid develops his shot ... RIP NHL goalies. Nice knowing ya.

 

[Soundwave]

Strome is closer to 36 points if he had played all year long. Eberle is 50 ... so that's 14 points to make up.

But if you sign a Vanek or Iginla ... likely that's another 28-40 points added.

So no, technically this is not "worse", even on paper. We have to get Draisaitl signed, then we can have a better idea of where we can spend our cap after that.

 

[tsnTpoint]

I find it hard to swallow that we haven't picked up any cheap depth guys.

Hartnell, Cammalleri, Iginla etc.. Cheap guys on one year contracts.

Also what was the purpose of buying out Benoit Pouliot? Could it not have been done after next season? Were not exactly on pace to be at the cap this year, but now carry Pouliot's 1.3 mil against the cap for the next 4 seasons.

How much buyout cap hit baggage do the Stanley cup winning Penguins carry? Zero.

 

[Mr Positive]

We had no choice but to downgrade.

Priority one is signing Drai and McDavid, while deterring offer sheets on Drai. That means we had to clear our cap space, and we aren't allowed to sign anyone either.

Once the extensions are in place, we can start spending up to the cap again, assuming room for bonuses.

Also, I'm bullish on internal growth. We're a young team that could have evolution that makes up for the downgrades.

 

[shoop]

Starting the season with this team likely slightly worse, primarily because of the Sekera injury. Assuming nobody takes a big step up over the off-season.

A better backup goalie, a 4/5 D until Sekera is back and a 2/3RW as insurance if Pulju isn't ready and everybody at last season's level this team is slightly better.

If Nurse/Benning can take a step up in Sekera's absence and Pulju is ready to be a full time contributor in the top six then this team is noticeably better.

 

[McShogun99]

On paper we are slightly worse but we have young players that are getting better in Mcdavid, Draisaitl, JP, Nurse and Benning. Plus maybe bounce back years from RNH and Strome. I think we still get over 100 points and finish either 1st or 2nd in the division.

 

[Beerfish]

Worse. Have to hope that our good players under 25 can be better enough to compensate.

Our depth is scary bad on defense and goalkeeping imo.