Oilers fans are pretty triggered about the flames resurgent offseason. At the beginning it was all about how they broke the flames and forced the team into a rebuild and Treliving has flipped the narrative about players not wanting to be here by quickly signing Huberdeau and Kadri with Weegar likely not far behind. The national media has been praising the Flames quite a bit over the past month and they are sour up north.
Some of the reasons the Oilers think they will be better are reasons I think they will be at least a little worse. Kane is paid so his motivation is questionable. He is a locker room cancer that hasn’t spread yet since he hasn’t faced any hard times or harsh winters in that town yet. They enjoyed a new coach bump off Woodcroft that was refreshing post Tippet who they were incredibly tired of. The fans seem to think they will be as good next year but that remains to be seen. Lastly they signed Campbell to a long term deal that makes him their starter for the next 5 years. Toronto decided Matt Murray was a better solution so that doesn’t give me any confidence the Oilers found their answer and between the pipes is where the question marks remain.
They talk about the Flames not having a ton of injuries last year but their team is an injury away from being a thin lineup. No McDrai no playoffs.
It is hard to say if Calgary is better or worse yet because the team is vastly different but the Oilers seemingly reshuffled the deck chairs and I don’t see any way they are proven to be better than last year
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