Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I think it is likely that Edmonton improves, but you are not alone in underestimating just how much they would have to improve for it to have an impact on their place in the standings. The gap is ENORMOUS. I think that if the Oilers happen to finish 12th next season, this should be considered a tremendous success. But they will require a miracle to get within sniffing distance of the playoffs.
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This exactly. The Oilers finished
27 points behind the 12th-place Sharks. If they improve by 20 points next season, they could still finish 13th in the West. With 82 points, they might sneak into 12th or even 11th, depending on which teams they take the wins away from. But they're not any threat to make the playoffs until they completely rebuild their defence corps, which almost certainly will not happen between now and October.
By the way, I would guess that the Flames' record won't change much next year. However, the threshold required to make the playoffs will be a bit lower, because there won't be five teams giving away free points in a desperate attempt to tank for McDavid.