To me these are mostly likely to happen and some of them aren’t even questions that cross my mind. Injuries are obviously the thing that could change that since we got pretty lucky last year but that’s something everyone faces and it’s unpredictable. It’s more likely Jack tops 100 than dips under 90. Nico ending up somewhere between like 75-85 makes sense to me. Maybe Luke gvies you a bit less than Sevo did but I think he can be comparable enough. I think we’ll lose some playdriving with Toffoli instead of Tatar but also gain some production. Also a full year of Meier
I don’t know if Holtz is a top 6er but he also doesn’t need to be since we already have 6 guys that are great and another 2 who can be serviceable enough in a pinch. As long he as can produce at a competent 3rd line level this year it’d be fine. I don’t know with Foote but even if he doesn’t and McLeod’s banished I think the 4th line can be decent. I really like Nosek-Bastian as a 4th line defensive duo. One of Tierney/Lazar should work as the 3rd guy.
A thing I’ll throw in as a potential negative is Schmid. He could be good again and he could also be a disaster again. If he’s not good or there’s a goalie injury then that’s a big issue. I don’t feel confident at all in Daws or Kallgren. I’d like Halak as the 2/3. Sure the wheels could fall off at his age but he’s pretty much always decent
This is JF’s section on us:
LOST RAW OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION:
Tatar 82 GP 20G 28A 48 Pts
Shara 75 GP 13G 17A 30 Pts
Wood 76 GP 13G 14A 27 Pts
Boqvist 70 GP 10G 11A 21 Pts
Zetterlund 45 GP 6G 14A 20 Pts
= 62 Goals 84 Assists 146 Points
*Meier 21 GP 9G 5A 14 Pts*
Severson 81 GP 7G 26A 33 Pts
Graves 78 GP 8G 18A 26 Pts
= 15 Goals 44 Assists 59 Points
The good news on offense, getting higher end guys is better than a bag of stuff, so getting Meier full-time and Toffoli is a very good thing.
The bad is Meier contributed a bit already last season, so those two don’t put us ahead, so a lot depends on where else we could get more.
On the offensive end:
Palat playing more than 49 games.
Mercer could provide more offense.
Does Holtz stick and start to produce?
Does Footie Pajamas stick and start to produce?
Curtis Lazar exists.
Tomas Nosek exists.
Bastian only played 43 games (Hey, he can score a little! Don’t be mean.)
But McLeod could be dealing with some things *cough*
Conclusion: Looking forward to seeing the top six play but the depth scoring is a question mark at best and almost non-existent at worst.
On the Defensive end:
Luke should make up some of that offense.
Miller could as well.
More Bahl will even help.
Not sure we see much of Nemec this season.
72 points for Dougie was a career high, as was his points/60, so we can’t count on him doing it again. (Though it would be cool if he did.)
Conclusion: Not sure how the defense shakes out but LUUUUKKKEEE!
The goaltending is a bit scary as Schmid is a baby goalie and Daws doesn’t get back from hip surgery until ~December.
Before that the goalie depth is Kallgren and then you don’t want to know.
