Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on which team off to a slow start -- Montreal or Edmonton -- is more likely to rebound and meet, or come close to meeting, pre-season expectations.
Todd Cordell
I'll go with Edmonton.
They've been out-shooting and out-chancing opponents on a consistent basis and are finally starting to get rewarded for it (they're 2-1-1- in their last four). They have arguably the league's best player, Leon Draisaitl is healthy again, and I feel comfortably saying Cam Talbot's play will improve moving forward. The Oilers will be fine.
I do think Montreal deserves better -- on Thursday night they out-chanced the Kings by 30(!) and lost 4-0, for example -- but at some point all the losses start to impact a team's confidence, and create a negative environment, and things don't tend to go well when that happens.
Matt Henderson
I'm going to say that Edmonton will come around more. It's true that Chiarelli has removed a significant amount of talent from the top 6 in Edmonton and replaced it with expensive or ineffective parts. However, they are the top 5v5 team in shots for, attempts, and scoring chances. Their problem is shooting percentage related and that will change.
The answer to this question also depends on your expectations before the season. There were a lot of Kool-Aid drinkers who had Edmonton going to the Cup finals despite the fact that they downgraded up front and declined to improve their defense. For me, I expect them to be fighting for a playoff spot and slightly worse overall than they were last season. I think they'll get there.
Jared Crozier
Of the two, Edmonton has the better chance of righting the ship.
Analytics believers would argue the fact that both clubs have been struck by bad puck luck, but the fact is the Oilers have Connor McDavid and a returning Leon Draisaitl and you can expect a recovery at the offensive end.
I don't know if you can say the same about the Habs, who were expected to struggle to score goals and even if their shooting percentage and team save percentage at 5 vs 5 are brutally low, they have relied and continue to rely heavily on Carey Price to steal games for them, and it hasn't happened this year. They were a middle of the pack offensive team last year and took a step back with this lineup, or at best stayed level.
Neither team should be as bad as they have been, but the Canadiens will have a tougher time getting back to where they could be.
Peter Tessier
The Oilers but one has to ask which one knows it's problems better. Could both of them be victims of a really bad PDO run? In the current situation, they both are victims but are they for the same reason?
They are 1-2 in CF% in all situations so they can get the puck and get it at the net but neither of them can stop the puck or put it in the net yet. The one who figures out, or has their luck change, in either the shooting success or the saving success will be the one who turns it around.
If I have to pick one I say it's the Oilers because they seem more rounded in talent up front and between the pipes compared to the Habs.
Recent posts
Which head coach is most on the hot seat?
Are the Golden Knights a legitimate playoff threat?
Stanley Cup predictions
Predicting the Atlantic Division standings
Predicting the Metro Division standings
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Predicting the Central Division standings
Atlantic Division breakout picks for 2017-18
Metro Division breakout picks for 2017-18
Pacific Division breakout picks for 2017-18
Central Division breakout picks for 2017-18
Join the Discussion:
»