The front 6 was already thin and losing your best all-around player certainly doesn’t help. I’d love to see some of the unknowns step up but Kane’s benefits far exceed just goals. He made his line mates better. Expecting someone like Barbanov or Balcers to have the same effect is crazy optimistic.It depends on what your goals are. If the goal is to replace him to remain competitive as the team has said repeatedly then it's not going to happen by any one player really. Best you can hope for is that when his open spot is given to another winger and the cascading effect of open spots lower in the lineup is given to someone else that they increase their productivity. Meier returns to 30 goal form. Barabanov plays roughly around a 20 goal level. Labanc and Balcers put in 15-20 goals. Whoever slides into the 3rd line winger roles put up 10-15 goals as well. You're not getting a top line winger between now and the trade deadline in all likelihood.