Calgary Flames
Of all the teams in the Pacific Division the Calgary Flames are the only team that is getting worse. Since the Oilers eliminated the Flames from the Playoffs a couple of years ago the Flames have been getting worse. The two major losses of Gaudreau and Tkachuk, have started a domino effect that has led to a lot of that team no longer being on this Flames team.
Even this past offseason the Flames off-loaded two more high quality players. Both Jacob Markstrom and Andrew Mangiapane were major parts of this team, but it is now clear that the Flames have shifted into rebuilding mode. The problem with the Flames trying to head into rebuilding mode is they have a couple of contracts that do not look good and are only going to get worse as time goes on.
The worst contract is the Huberdeau contract, this $10.5 million contract is stuck with the Flames till 2031. One of the main pieces in the Tkachuk trade Huberdeau, got 115 points in his last season with the Panthers. Since arriving in Calgary though he has only put up 55 and 52 points in the last two seasons. Which is just not good enough if he is getting paid $10.5 million a year. Oilers fans may complain about the Darnell Nurse deal, but I think this contract is worse than that.
If you take a look at the expected Calgary Flames lineup it is clear to see that they are not going to have a very strong season, which means when it comes to the trade deadline, they will be selling off their better players once again to get younger prospects and draft picks. The problem is they don't have that many players that contending teams will even want, which as an Oilers fan you love to see.
Prediction
Last season the Flames finished 17 points behind the 2nd wildcard team. This season I would expect that number to be even higher than that. While I still think they are better than the San Jose Sharks, there is no guarantee that they will finish higher than any of the other teams in the Pacific Division. So, expect the Flames to end up at the bottom of the division, which is crazy to say cause just a couple of seasons ago they finished atop the Pacific.