I'm not worried actually, I'm pretty happy about the start of our season and especially the way we've been playing lately.
We have FIVE guys out of out Top-9 out with injury. I don't think there's a lot of teams out there that would remain even competitive under that scenario and we took the play to the "best team in the league*", and probably deserved to win.
(*according to the TSN announcers - jets are the greatest EVER and Josh Morrissey's head is literally going to explode because his IQ is just too advanced for ordinary humans to comprehend)
The reason I am happy about our start is because we've got some answers that we might not have gotten if everyone had been healthy. Most notably :
Kovalenko - is a sure-fire NHLer and maybe more of a middle-6 guy but someone who can sub-in on the Top-6 if needed.
Ivan - I thought he needed another year in the A. Nope, he's at the very least an NHL player and he plays a pretty solid 2-way game and doesn't make too many mistakes.
Malinski - for the most part, has improved his defensive game where he's not a massive liability anymore. He's been pretty solid except for a game or two.
Annunen - I think he's been really good and I love the way the team plays in front of him... It reminds me of the way they used to play in front of Kuemper. It's hard to say how he'd play in the playoffs when the pressure is on but he probably doesn't have to stand on his head, just be good.
Mittelstadt - imagine, he's over a PPG and plays mostly without a big name on his wing. He's been great and you can tell he made a point to try and get faster over the summer. It's noticeable from the end of last season to the start this year.
So for all those reasons, I'm actually pretty happy about how we started the season regardless of our position in the standings. Once we get guys back - our supposed lack of depth won't be so much anymore.
