We will need a minimum of 10 more RW and about 14 more ROW to be in the mix.
I don't see it happening. This group is not there yet and neither Savard nor Dvorak will move that needle.
How many one goal games did we lose last year? (Is there a resource we can consult easily?) I'm viewing it on the balance that we tied with the NYI with 16 OTL. If that comes down and some of those OTLs become Ws, it means we've given away fewer points to competitors and gained more for ourselves. That by itself puts us closer to the playoff picture.
Then we have the favoured term of the anti-Laine crowd, "organic growth". It was said we didn't need Laine because the Habs' "organic growth" would elevate our game. Well, there's a bit of truth to that and adding Laine definitely helps. We can expect that Caufield, Guhle, and Slafkovsky will contribute more than they did last year -- Caufield's shooting at 5% was unnatural, Slafkovsky was tepid until he woke up, Guhle is still rounding out his game and contribution.
We can expect a healthy Dvorak to push down Evans and contribute more than than the rotation of warm-bodies and tweeners we had last year. Newhook was injured for a significant chunk -- will he provide at the same rate or an elevated rate? Joshua Roy can snatch a spot in the top9 -- can he produce more in that exploitation line?
Laine gives us scoring depth, I'm so happy we have him. I'm taking a rather cautious view on things but I expect growth overall.
As the season goes on we will know our fate, in fact by early December we will have a good idea about where this team will end up.