Cup champions? Are Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Coffey and Fuhr coming back from 1985?

Not with the defensive problems that havn't gotten better and that goaltending.

I love this line up lines are exactly what I want to see.

Haha.

Look how bad the oilers are.And this doesn’t really make them better.The definitely aren’t winnin’ the cup like this.

Mikko Koskinen may be the most overhated goalie in the league... people hate on him for no reason lol. His stats this year were similar to Markstrom.

no just no

Bear isn't taking that deal. If anything he takes his QO over that so he can have arb rights next season.

They're more improved then the flame and leafs.

Haha haha surely you must be joking.How?

The flames lost how many top 4 D's and only signed 1 back. Did they even sign anyone to help with the offence? And what, Markstrom who had virtually the exact same number as Koskinen.

Edmonton improved their top 9 significantly by signing Turris and bring JP back. Not to mention Ennis actually had a very nice season last year and now they have him for the whole year. Also the addition of Kahun in the top 6 allows more flexibility in the line up. We lost Klef but Nurse is more then ready for those minutes,and we signed Barrie on a very team friendly deal to run the PP. Bears older, Larson will shine playing the game he plays against lesser opponents. The Oilers have more D prospects knocking at the door for playing time then the flames do.

Offense Oilers >>> flames
Defense Oilers > Flames
Goaltending Flames > Oilers but by the slightest of margins

What did Toronto do? They traded Kaspiri and Andreas away for returns that have no immediate impact in the roster. They lost offence. They lost Barrie who Toronto hated even though going into last season he was the most offensive D man they had. I expect a huge improvement playing with the Oilers number 1 PP. They added Brodie who is solid. But after that nothing. They added nothing for goaltending. Koskinen played better last year.

Offence Oilers >> Leafs
Defense Oilers = Leafs , only because they have Morgan after that every player is comparable.
Goaltending Oilers > Leafs , you can't argue Koskinen had better number

Oilers made the most improvements overal and largely to the fact that both the Flames and Leafs lost more players then they gained. Not to mention the lead all Canadian teams in points last year. Had the best PP and 2nd best pk.

Oh yea did I mention McDavid and Draisaitl ?

How are Calgary and Toronto measurably better in theory or in practice?

Toronto went 36-25-9 in 70 games last year. Calgary went 36-27-7 in 70. Edmonton went 37-25-9 in 71 games last year. Better than both teams (but they played an extra game). Edmonton did better in the standings than either team.

Goaltending? Markstrom's save percentage last season? .918 Andersen's save percentage? 9.09. Koskinen's save percentage? 9.17. So Calgary will pay an aging goalie an extra 1.5m for another 6 years for literally an extra thousandth of a save percentage. Freddie Andersen's save percentage is no better than a backup goalie's. Does it even have a backup goalie? WTF are you talking about?

Probably the reason Freddi Andersen's save percentage was so horrible is because Toronto's defense is so bad. Seriously, who Does Toronto have on Defense? Aside from TJ Brodie and Morgan Rielly, who are legit, it has 2 NHL has-beens, Muzzin and Bogosian, then the rest are AHLers. Seriously, JUSTIN HOLL, RASMUS SANDIN, CALLE ROSEN, and MARTIN MARINCIN? Calgary's defense is legit, but it was gutted with the loss of TJ Brodie and Hamonic, etc. A lot of great prospects whom I love like Juuso Valimaki, etc. But Edmonton's is still by far the best in terms of GA and puck-moving, followed by Calgary. Toronto can't defend and that's why it routinely gets creamed by good teams like Boston.

Forwards? Out of kindness, I will leave Calgary alone and pick on Toronto. Forget Connor McDavid vs. Auston Matthews . . . Draisaitl is better than Auston Matthews in each and every available metric. Toronto pays just 4 forwards just over $40m. Hard to pay the other 19 guys you need to fill out a roster.

What did Toronto do to improve? Well, they LOST two young promising wingers in Kapanen and Johnsson and replaced them with 32 year old RW Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds scored 25 points last season and was MINUS 21. On LW, Toronto replaced Johnsson with Jimmy Vesey (20 pts) of the Buffalo Sabres. Yikes.

Edmonton signed Barrie, Turris, and Puljujarvi to sweetheart deals. Oh, and Dominik Kahun, Draisaitl's longtime linemate who has roughly the same points per 60 as Taylor Hall and is only getting paid 925k. Edmonton's PP was the best in the league in 30 years. It had the best combined PP/PK in the league this year.

What a joke, Edmonton is nowhere near Cup Champions, That D and Goaltending are atrocious.

I know that’s what I was trying to say.

Points for players aren’t everything.They’re not even the best players in the league!And it’s not like they made the playoffs,unlike the Flames.And that D is so bad.The leafs are doing way better then last year!They have way better defence then the Oilers.

The point is that top 9 has the ability to out score opponents evey night. Technically that play in round we the playoffs and they would of made the playoffs under normal circumstances. But if you're referring to McDavid and Draisaitl not being the best players in the league then you need a reality check friend. That's D is is better then the flames and pretty much on par with the Leafs. The facts are the Oilers actually added to their depth and actually improved overall as a team. The Leafs and Flames both lost players and depth. All the evidence points to the Oilers having a better year next year then they did the last and the flames and leafs doing worse because of their lack of improvements. And as seeing the Oilers finished higher then both those teams that means the Oilers will so better. Facts are facts.

The point is that top 9 has the ability to out score opponents evey night. Technically that play in round we the playoffs and they would of made the playoffs under normal circumstances. But if you're referring to McDavid and Draisaitl not being the best players in the league then you need a reality check friend. That's D is is better then the flames and pretty much on par with the Leafs. The facts are the Oilers actually added to their depth and actually improved overall as a team. The Leafs and Flames both lost players and depth. All the evidence points to the Oilers having a better year next year then they did the last and the flames and leafs doing worse because of their lack of improvements. And as seeing the Oilers finished higher then both those teams that means the Oilers will so better. Facts are facts.

I would say Mackinnon's the best player in the league.But whatever, you can say what you want, but my opinion stays the same:The Fkames and Leafs are better than the Oilers.Moving on now.