[Dion]

The minister of propaganda for the Oilers (David Staples) weighs in on the signing

1. We don’t often write full posts on moves made by other teams through the lens of how it impacts the Edmonton Oilers. This Nazem Kadri deal is an exception in that it’s a major shift in the balance of power between Edmonton and Calgary in the Battle of Alberta, with both positive and negative implications for the Oilers.

2. One obvious positive is that if you love the Battle of Alberta, if one of your great hockey thrills in life is to see these two teams go head-to-head in the playoffs, the Kadri deal adds high octane gas to that fire. Calgary is now much more likely to make the playoffs in the next few years. Calgary is now also much more likely to beat the Oilers in a series. After the loss of Johnny Gaudreau and Matt Tkachuk, the Battle of Alberta looks like it was going to be one-sided for years to come, but the Battle is evidently going to rage for the next few seasons at least.

7. We will recall that a nasty hit from Evander Kane sent Kadri into the boards, fracturing his thumb and driving him from the playoffs. This is the kind of bad blood that will now boil in the Battle of Alberta. It should make for some, shall we say, interesting moments.

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/h...dmonton-oilers