Next season might be the toughest one IMO, our third pairing will be a problem and injury replacements will be an issue. Middleton will need to improve his game as well, he has not shown enough to be a top 4 lock on a competitive NHL team.
Gus' season will be hard to replicate, our team defense is always going to be better than most, but he was very hot for long stretches this year, there may be more adversity as a starter.
The forward situation is too soon to be clear on without knowing contract talks for the UFAs and RFAs, but its certainly clear, as always, that quality centers are a major need, and we cannot afford an established one. Rossi best case scenario becomes a contributor by the halfway point of next season, but its more likely he is still cooking and years away from being a difference maker. Boldy at Center could be an option if he is open to it and works real hard over the summer, but that seems a bit extreme and only shifts the need from Top 6 C to W with an ELC's worth of cap space to fill it.
Weird situation, the team is likely to take steps back, though there is room for internal development, it would take everything going right to be better than the last two year's teams though.
Still a fun team to watch when they are hot, and I personally like pretty much every player, they play hard and play the right way for the most part, with more creativity in the players than we have had in our previous 20 years of rosters. I will still enjoy watching them and look forward to seeing the continued growth of Kap, Boldy, Faber, JEE and Gus, but my personal expectations are taking a step back from playoffs to bubble team next season pending some Guerin off-season magic. We are also much more susceptible to key injuries completely tanking us due to the cap, it has only hurt us in the playoffs so far, but in the regular season it only takes one of our big contributors out to really destroy our win possibilities.
The prospects had good years this year and seems like players are in good positions for next year too, but not many seem ready to be immediate difference makers besides Faber. Hope that everyone continues to develop well and maybe we see some call ups from the young D men later on in the depth roles. Big years for Beckman and Walker, they will likely have opportunities if they earn them, but I personally do not see true difference makers in either, though maybe a bit more opportunity for Walker. ROR and Hunt will be in line for call ups if they are playing well, Lambos will probably need AHL development to be passable before being an option. My darkhorse player to get some looks by end of season is actually Spacek, I could see him adapting well to the pro-style and being a coaches recommendation, though still more likely he doesn't get consideration until the following season plus.
