Hoepfully I respond to everything you state. Personally, I don't think the roster changes are what hurt them in the bad stretch down the season. I know they lost Hart, but truthfully I think Errson was great for awhile and Fedotov will be better this season than that brief stint last season. Errson only began to struggle when the Flyers rode him way too hard. Goalies need breaks and he never got one once Hart was gone. Guy had to be exhausted. With a consistent rotation in place again, I think they will be set between the pipes
I don't think losing walker killed them. He was good, but I still think the fact that they some how got a 1st for him is a bargain. The subpar goaltending caused by the over reliance on one guy lead to some really bad goal tending performances and a lack of offensive talent that can produce consistently hurt them.
I agree that the progression of other young players does impact their chances. I don't expect a big Step from Foerster. I do expect him to develop a little. I still view his ceiling as a depth forward regardless, but if he takes that 33 to 45 that is the step needed. I actually completely expect a big step from York. As a prospect I believed that York was the type of player that will have a letter on his Jersey one day. Never Makar, but a young Ellis? Yeah thats great. Drysdale is a bit tricky, but I was high on Drysdale in 2020 and I still am. Drysdale needs to take a step, but I don't think his game requires development, but rather his body. He needs to develop a man's body. To the extent that I would consider leaving him out longer and allowing him to build strength. Essentially become a little tank. That will help him defensively to out muscle men, but really the biggest need for it is it will help prevent injury. Finally, Brink needs to become a roster player. He has more to offer in terms of potential production on the 3rd line than a scrub vet.
To me the performance of this team is actually in the hands of Farabee, Frost, Tippett, TK, Michkov and Coots. These are the players on the roster with potential for the most contribution. TK is at his ceiling so there are no steps needed from him, just do it again. I don't think Coots is as done as many people people think. Mainly because no good player is at like 31/32. A down year after missing an entire season? Sure. Done? I don't think so. If Coots gets time with Michkov next season they will be beneficial to each other. Michkov will aid Coots in producing like the high level talent he was and Coots will aid Michkov in not being a dash 50 like Bedard. Then all 3 of Tippett, Farabee, and Frost have shown an ability to produce they need to improve on. An additional step from each and this is a whole different team. All 3 have the talent needed, they just need to want to win more than they want to produce.
The biggest reason I think they are likely to improve is their powerplay will improve. Michkov could only play on the 2nd unit and they will score more than they did last season. If they produces at top 20 percentage they make playoffs easily last season.
I will reiterate that I do not think this is a contending recipe, but I do think they will be good enough to lose in the 1st round. The unfortunate part of this is that lands them in purgatory with the islanders, Wild, too old Caps, too old Pens, etc. Good enough for a chance, not good enough to succeed. They really need another young high pedigree stud like Michkov, but I doubt they will be bad enough to select one. Which leaves the question, how do they do it?
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