Quoting: GenericUsername489
Bottom 6 wingers are far better for Habs, but I'd rather have Backlund/Bennett over KK/Evans. Top 4 D is roughly the same but Kulak/Romanov promises to be superior to Valimaki/Nesterov. Jake Allen also had a .935 and had to take over for Binnington in the playoffs so I would say that puts him in a league above Rittich.
I'm also not saying Crosby/Malkin won't be worse this year, but I'm just saying that there's a world where the Rangers matches the star power Pittsburgh has.
Calgary's current bottom 6 is Mangiapane, Backlund, Bennett, Lucic, Nordstrom then 1 of Simon/Leivo. Thats really solid depth wise.
3rd pair wise Valimaki and Romanov are a wash, then you are comparing the #6 of Kulak and and Nesterov. That seems like such an irrelevant difference, especially since Nesterov had a strong camp but hasnt played in the NHL in 2 years (hard to judge).
As for goalie Rittich was at the allstar game last year and was the starter for Calgary. As a backup he should be much more consistent than before.
Overall the slight advantages Montreal may have over Calgary the Flames more than make up for with their superstar wingers.
As for PIT and NYR, the Pens played without Guentzel most of the year. I'm personally taking Crosby + Malkin + Guentzel over Panarin + Zibanejad + Lafreniere this year 9/10 times and I generally dislike the Pens