Quote:
Originally Posted by Husky
Completely disagree. d is important but nashville is a bad example. Thry have had a top D core all the way back to Suter and weber and have done nothing in the playoffs up until this year.
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But they were still consistently a playoff team. They just didn't have the skilled, point producing forwards to take the next step. That was addressed over the past couple seasons, now look where they are.
Flames have equivalent if not better skilled forwards right now, but didn't have the blue line depth. If they can get Stone back, and roll with this top 4, they're pretty close, comparable teams. Both teams also carry some great two way forwards. Backlund and Fisher do very similar things for both clubs, but I'd give the clear edge to Backlund as a player who is younger.
The one edge the Preds still have on the Flames is elite goaltending. Let's hope one of these promising kids can close that gap and the Flames can enjoy a similar breakthrough in the next couple years. Smith is no slouch though, either.