I don't see a big slide for the Flames this year. Unless the Tkachuk situation completely falls apart (which I doubt).
I expect Monahan and Gaudreau to come back hungrier than ever.
I expect Bennett, Mangiapane, Dube, Jankowski, Andersson and Kylington to be better than last year. Possibly Hanifin as well. I think Lucic will be more useful than Neal was.
I expect Backlund, Tkachuk, Ryan, Brodie, and Hamonic to be about the same.
Giordano and Lindholm will be hard pressed to match last season, but even if they don't, I don't see some huge drop off.
I expect the goaltending to be better than last year.
Intangibles, like injuries, momentum from a good start, etc. probably aren't as fortunate as last year.
All told, I see maybe a marginal step back, simply because last year was so good. But I expect them to be over 100 points, so 107 doesn't seem all that unattainable.
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