Buffalo went through another offseason where they came out looking cheap and incompetent.
I think there is a kind of momentum you can get where it can have long term effects. The kind of momentum you get where players are drawn to your organization because they think these guys know how to win, when you pair those wins together with big offseason moves.
We have the top offensive talent and the elite #1D - which are not things I've said before heading into an offseason. The pieces we need to get to completely round out our roster are very gettable. I'm not convinced that Wads will be aggressive enough to get them, but it's doable, and that's more than we've been able to say before.
I won't get into commentary about whether we can compete for a playoff spot next year, because it obviously depends largely on what we do with the roster. Unless you want to debate whether our top talent is good enough (I don't think it's much of a debate).
Agree in part, disagree in part.
Agree with elite #1D. Z has been outstanding from game 1 on. And his offensive prowess, imo, masks some of the offensive deficiencies up front.
Not sure there is ENOUGH top offensive talent in the forward group.
Better than before - absolutely yes, but still not enough. Losing JG created a hole yet to be filled.
Monahan - yes. (effect of his absence on entire team is clear).
Marchenko - yes.
Fantilli - coming (so yes.)
Voronko - yes, for his role, but a slide in production/eye-test recently.
Beyond those 4, I'm struggling to find "top offensive talent" on this roster.
KJ - No. Looks lost since games have ramped up. Maybe it comes, maybe I am too critical, but he's been invisible to me for a while. The physicality/lack of space have taken him out of his game.
Jenner, at least the Jenner since his return, is not top offensive talent. He's fine as a 3L winger/C, no complaint about the player, but he's top offensive talent.
Chinakov - not yet, if ever. Glimpes of potential.
Sillinger - no, but he fills his role fine.
Olivier - no, nice season, nice secondary scoring but not "top offensive talent."
JVR/ZAR/etc. - no. Some secondary scoring, especially JVR, but not top offensive talent.
Seems to me that CBJ still needs at least one if not two top-6 wings - one line cannot carry the scoring load this time of year.