I strongly disagree with the bolded. Our defense, when healthy, might be better than average, but it isn't anywhere near the top of the League. Parayko is the only defenseman on the roster who can be described as elite, and some people would even argue with that. Krug and Faulk both have their strengths, but I think they both get overrated by some posters here.
I would put us in or close to top-10. We definitely have a better defense than:
Ottawa
Vancouver
Detroit
Pittsburgh
Edmonton
New Jersey
Buffalo
Philadelphia
Anaheim
Chicago
Montreal
Los Angeles
Winnipeg
New York (R)
Florida
(15 teams)
And I would argue we have
similar or better defense than:
San Jose
Nashville
Columbus
Washington
Calgary
Arizona
Dallas
New York (I)
Boston
Colorado
Toronto
Vegas
Minnesota
(13 teams)
The only teams that have definitively better defense are:
Tampa Bay
Carolina
(2 teams)
Our Top-4 is pretty strong. Just a little while ago, it was best in the league, or at least third-best.
Pietrangelo > Parayko
Parayko > Faulk
Bouwmeester = Krug
Edmundson/Dunn/Faulk = Scandella
Gunnarsson < Dunn
Bortuzzo = Bortuzzo
I don't think we majorly downgraded in defense, and I'm a person that was very down on exchanging Pietrangelo for Krug. This team's defense is still very good, just not league best anymore, and I think the differential is what makes most fans think it's much worse than it is. That, and our defense has been more about offense than shutting down the opposition. Bouwmeester was great to shutdown our opponent, but his offense was a blackhole. We're one top-pair LHD from having the best defense in the league; without it, we're still contenders.
Our forwards MAJORLY upgraded, though.
2019
Schwartz Schenn Tarasenko
Blais O'Reilly Perron
Maroon Bozak
Thomas
Barbashev Sundqvist
Steen
2021
Schwartz Schenn Tarasenko
Sanford O'Reilly Perron
Hoffman Bozak
Kyrou
Sundqvist Barbashev
Thomas
I think I would take this team over the cup team, though it would be close (I'm a very big Pietrangelo fan).