That lineup will have the same trouble as this year, it will be a one line team. Unless that FA signing is a major one, than we are in trouble. Bennet needs good line mates(he really has not shown much, right now he is a 30-40 point player and you need more on the second) and there is a chance that Backlund never hits 50 points.
If you have better ideas, shoot them. Otherwise my goal is to add to our forwards without disruption to the core. You also are making a vacuum assumption that young players like Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Bennett, Janko, and to a lesser degree Ferland, will not be taking any steps forward. I mean yes, there is a risk that doesn't happen, but I'd say it's a greater risk to disrupt the quality talent we already have in place. I'm all for upgrading Bennett in a package if we get a quality top 6 winger that checks off all the boxes, but his value may not offer us that luxury at this point.
Tkachuk-Monahan-Gaudreau
Not that you were arguing this, but that is a serious top line imo.
Bennett-Backlund-(FA signing)
Imagine placing James Neal in that slot, Bennett has two quality line mates to run with and I imagine he can improve his offensive numbers quite a bit.
Ferland-Janko-Frolik
That is a massive upgrade to our current 3rd line plugs, Frolik is an ideal 3rd liner, same goes for Ferland. Janko should improve with another offseason of training.
XXX-XXX-XXX
We may be able to fill 1-2 of these internally, maybe Shore is a decent option as well. At the end of the day, I can't imagine it's too hard to upgrade on one of the league's most ineffective 4th lines.
Sum all that up and it leads to improvement. Bring in a quality coaching staff and I'm betting this forward group can help us make a decent run in the playoffs. Again, I believe our biggest issue is coaching, that alone will have a massive impact. In addition, make some upgrades to our forward group, and this team should be in much better shape. I'm still one of the fans that wants to be somewhat patient with our roster, try a new coach first. Unless you want to trade one of Gaudreau, Monohan, Tkachuk, Hamilton, or Gio, I'm not sure how you land a massive talent. Even then, subtract any of the players mentioned, does that equate to an upgrade? Who knows I guess. Maybe BT will take the deep dive into massive core changes and we come out of it in way better shape, I just don't see that as the best option.