Though not the case for the Calgary Flames, lots of changes have occurred for many teams during the offseason. Some teams got better, and some got worse, as teams decided which direction they wanted to go. The Flames however, despite the Toffoli trade, have so far changed practically nothing about their roster. This begs the question, with all the roster turnover throughout the league during the offseason, which division rival matches up the best with the Flames? We asked, you answered
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Which team matches up the best?
We presented the following poll:
Edmonton Oilers
Around 18% of the voters picked the Oilers as the team that matches up the best, and although I agree when it comes to entertainment and anticipation value, I’m not sure I agree when it comes to comparing rosters. As it stands right now, Edmonton is the better team, and based off last season’s results, it might not even be that close either.
Although many players had down years for the Flames, and they are likely to rebound next season, I think Edmonton is just too good right now, especially when we consider the players on the Flames that reportedly want out. If Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, and Mikael Backlund are traded, the Flames will have no answer to the Oilers’ top guns.
Vegas Golden Knights
Calgary has had its fair share of struggles with the Golden Knights, putting up an atrocious 6-11-1 record against the current Stanley Cup Champions. The Flames simply can’t keep up with them, and the voters know that as they received only 7% of the votes. Vegas is in a whole other stratosphere than Calgary, as one team is a bonafide Stanley Cup Contender, while the other doesn’t even know what they are yet.
Seattle Kraken
This team got the most votes, as 54% of readers picked the Seattle Kraken to be the most evenly-matched team for the Flames. And if all goes to plan and the Flames have some bounce-back performances from their players, I believe this is the correct choice. At times last season, Seattle looked like a Stanley Cup contender, and at other times, they looked like just a playoff team. But at their lowest, Seattle was still a very competitive hockey team. This is exactly what Calgary should be aiming for next season if they want to avoid a rebuild.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings got the second most votes with 21%. I might be in the minority here, but I honestly think that there is a higher chance that the Kings finish lower than the Flames next year, than them finishing higher than the Flames. I understand that they made a big trade to get Dubois, however, they lost a lot of depth in the process by giving up Gabriel Vilardi and Alex Iaffalo. Through six years in the league, Dubois has never scored more than 61 points in an NHL season.
Combined, Gilardi and Iaffalo put up 37 goals and 77 points for the Kings last season. Bringing in Dubois still leaves 10 goals and 14 points on the table. Is this really an upgrade for the Kings? I don’t think so, but I could be wrong.
Flames have to prove themselves
Are you a competitive playoff team? Or are you an old team stuck in mediocrity? The Flames need to decide and pick a direction before it’s too late.
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