And far worse than what they had at the end of the season. Debrusk is a fine complimentary piece, but he's no Lindholm, and while Zadorov got overpaid by Boston, the Canucks are going to miss him on the blueline.
Uhhh Pettersson was injured. Boeser too for game 7 and Demko never played. Debrusk will saw off Lindholm who wasnt that good till the playoffs and part of that was Garland-Joshua continuing to create match up problems. He largely stunk for us till he got the role of playing with those 2 who were having a banner year and created so many chances and possession time
Zadorov 100% agree but a healthy Demko and Pettersson is infinitely more of a threat than anything Zadorov does especially considering it's probably the one sample in his career where he was of as much impact.
Hronek was also not that good for us and would expect more but we could go back and forth doing that as RNH struggled 2023 but 2024 was effective....Kane Nurse etc etc. Things can change injuries streaks blah blah blah.
Shit talking aside....we still need a top4 defender and should have 5-6 million to do it by the deadline and may find someone better than Zadorov even if they remain patient.
The OIl has some really good depth now. Best it's been during this cycle. Curious who moves as it sounds like Kane is the one right now they are shopping. .
One thing is how many forwards in their 30s now for the Oilers might become a problem. 4 are UFA but 6 are not. Some good GM maneuvering should be able to manage it as contenders are usually destinations for players wanting a Championship but cant keep asking McDrai to do all the heavy lifting
The great thing is this is going to be a big rivalry for a few years. Both teams are in a contender cycle.