[Sylvanfan]

This will be a team that likely is going to be bottom 8 in goals for, so they'll need to be top 3 in goals against if they want to compete for a playoff spot. Markstrom will have to be the guy he was in the first 8 games for the entire season, and he needs to stay healthy.

My biggest concern is the lack of offence from the backend. You might get away with that in 2003-04, but I don't think that will live in this version of the NHL. Overall scoring may not be up as it once was, but most teams getting to the playoffs have at least 1 or 2 guys from the backend who can help generate something offensively. Maybe Hanifin can finally move forward with a steady guy like Tanev beside him.

Overall, I don't like the roster. Many of us do like Daryl as a coach, and they do have a lot of guys who can play his style of game. So maybe they'll be able to win enough 2-1 and 1-0 games. I don't think teams will find the Flames easy to play against. They may be easier to beat due to their inability to score, but I do think teams will feel it more after playing the Flames unlike past years where maybe they had to skate a bit, but didn't find it too taxing to play a pretty soft team.