The most disappointing teams early on in the 2023-24 NHL season
Tyler Yaremchuk: We are going to play a little edition of rank em. We’ve identified four teams in the league that we think should be the most disappointed in their starts, and it’s the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators. I’ll let you go, Frank; rank those four.
Frank Seravalli: Yeah, when you consider the spots that these teams are in, based on Zadorov’s comments, based on Kadri’s comments before and based on the situation they’re in trying to bounce back to the top, I’ve got the Flames at the top of this list. When you start the year that publicly, which usually doesn’t happen until March or April, end of the season as you get closer to locker clean-out day, very rarely does information like this come out three weeks into the season.
Frank Seravalli: I’ve got the Senators next. You can never really rely too much on the words players use, but when Claude Giroux said, “It’s not time to hit the panic button,” I thought, oh, that’s interesting. The Sens, to me, are a team to continue to monitor. I thought they looked good the first couple of games but then have struggled.
Frank Seravalli: I have concerns about the Penguins. I’ve talked and was open heading into the season with them trying to assimilate Erik Karlsson, and he doesn’t have a single point on the powerplay yet; he has four points in six games to start, and I think for a team that had so many issues defending in its own end, that to me is what stands out with the Pens.
Frank Seravalli: I’m less concerned for the Oilers; they hit a couple of games to start that in years past they probably would’ve won, like the home game, the game against the Canucks, the game against the Jets. They’ve had good stretches in those games, and it would look different if they were 3-3, and we wouldn’t be raising the alarms with the Oilers just yet.
Tyler Yaremchuk: For me, I’ve gone with three. Because to me, if Zadorov doesn’t make those comments, we probably aren’t even talking about the Flames.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I have the Pens first, and I just sit there and look back and remember last year they missed the playoffs, but they had a lot of things go right. Their veterans stayed healthy all season, and that’s never a guarantee, especially with a team as old as the Penguins. I haven’t been very impressed with the Karlsson addition early on; I’m not sure if that experiment is working through six games. If that doesn’t work, then they are running back the same team they missed the playoffs with last year. I just don’t think through six games; they’re inspired enough to get it done.
Frank Seravalli: Yeah, I think that’s a totally fair assessment; you could argue in some ways that they even got worse. Yeah, they changed out the bottom six, but they eroded some of their depth on the blue line. I think Jan Rutta had a really disappointing year, but he’s still a good defenseman who you’ve now shipped off to San Jose. You took back a guy in Karlsson, who, yes, is a 100-point scorer and May score 75 this year, but if he’s not fitting in with what you’re trying to do, then I’m not sure it’s going to help you for a team that’s missed the playoffs.
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