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The Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres both finished bottom-3 last season. And the year before.
Both teams were also very active this summer in trying to ensure that won't be the case for a long time.
In this edition of the hotstove we look at which team had a better off-season.
Todd Cordell
I really like what the Sabres did but I have to give the edge to the Oilers as they not only improved in player personnel and behind the bench but also in the front office.
Robin Lehner has potential but Cam Talbot owns a .931 save percentage in 57 career games so I think he's the better goaltender; at least right now.
I really liked the signing of Andrej Sekera as he's a stabilizing force who can log big minutes, chip in some offense and drive possession. I'm not as high on Griffin Reinhart as most but he should help out, too, and Mark Letestu is an underrated depth addition up front.
Jack Eichel is a stud and Ryan O'Reilly is going to be very good for Buffalo. That said Connor McDavid is Connor McDavid and I think the Oilers did a better job improving their defense and goaltending.
Matt Henderson
OK, I'm biased so don't expect me to jump ship here, but I'm going to choose Edmonton. I think Edmonton has a clear advantage over Buffalo in goaltending and coaching. I would take Talbot over Lehner every day of the week and it isn't actually very close. Lehner has some serious issues to overcome. I also believe McLellan is the superior coach over Dan Bylsma.
As for the defense, I'm a big Ristolainen fan but it drops off considerably from there. The Oilers aren't exactly sporting an All-Star defense of their own though. Schultz has forgotten what his own zone looks like the way you struggle to remember the faces of people you haven't seen since you were a child, but Sekera, Klefbom, and Nurse are a good trio of players to build around for the next few years. Let's be nice and call it a wash.
As far as forwards go, it's hard to be disappointed with Hall-RNH-Eberle-and McDavid as the bulk of the top 6 for the foreseeable future. I like that the Sabres got ROR because I think expecting Eichel to do it all by himself with moderate help from Evander Kane would be too much.
Beyond McDavid, the Oilers have Draisaitl who at this point in his career is killing Reinhart. What it might come down to between these teams is the fact that the Oilers have been much worse for a lot longer than the Sabres. That's why I think their prospect pool and current NHL talent is better today. They've been collecting good assets for years and years.
Yeah, it's pretty close. My edge goes to Edmonton. As you would expect it to from me.
John Jaeckel
Edmonton
I really like the additions of Connor McDavid (how soon will he really produce at the NHL level?) and Andrej Sekera. And I don't like the addition of Evander Kane to Buffalo. Or any team. He's a million dollar talent with ten cent character. And it remains to be seen if a change of scenery will really change that.
Jack Eichel is obviously a very nice add. But . . . development/upside questions have to be asked about him just as they do about McDavid. And McDavid seems to be the more mature, proven NHL ready commodity at this point.
I'm also a believer that goalies generally succeed or fail in large part due to the quality of the team defense in front of them. On paper, and by reputation, you'd think Robin Lehner (Buffalo) has higher upside than Cam Talbott (who I do believe benefited somewhat from playing on a very good ranger team in typical "backup situations). But the goalies are hard to call this year anyway.
Both teams got better—I like Edmonton's work a bit more.
James Tanner
While both were good, I say the Oilers because you can't compete with adding Connor McDavid. Not to mention that Talbot is superior to Lehner and Skerera is a very underrated pickup.
I like everything Buffalo did, but Edmonton is clearly and significantly better. The only thing I don't like that the Oilers did is pick up Korpikoski: good luck with that.
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