To look on the brighter side-
New PP coach +
Toews from the beginning of the year +
Year 2 under Trotz +
And kids take advantage of their opportunity +
If they can put themselves into a situation where they are a playoff team by December, then Lou will most likely add by the deadline.
Also, RFA hold outs could also be possible.
1. I'm all for Jim Hiller coming here. But I don't think we can count on him to snap his fingers and turn chicken shit into chicken salad. Its not that easy. On the bright side though, it really can't get worse so I think its reasonable to assume our PP does improve.
2. Toews from the beginning of the year definitely helps. Ditto Pelech and Pulock playing at their high level for the entire season. Pelech especially struggled at the outset and really turned his game on the second half of the year. But lets not assume that everything will be rosy and all our defensemen (or players in general) will simply improve upon last year's performance - it doesn't always work that way. Its a tough game and players experience ebbs and flows throughout their careers. Hopefully our guys trajectories are only upwards but I don't think we can reasonably count on that.
3. I'm not sure what Year 2 under Trotz really gets us. Sure they have a full year under their belt to digest the system. But likewise, other teams have a full year to see what the Islanders are all about. How they play, what their tendencies are, etc. I'll call this a wash. I love Trotz but its not like he snaps his fingers and wills things to happen. He is prepared, his teams' are responsible, disciplined and well coached. We saw all that last year. I don't think we'll get an additional benefit beyond what we've already seen solely from BT being our coach.
4. I don't know which kids will be taking advantage of their opportunities. Beau? This will be year 4 for him. I'm somewhat optimistic that he can continue his growth but at this point, he's a mainstay in our top 9. He's not a guy that is coming in as an unknown. MDC? Sure....hopefully he takes the next step but he's not really a guy with an unlimited ceiling. He simply doesn't skate well enough to be that guy. The reality is - this is a veteran lineup with no real room for any kids - at least not at the outset. Funny things happen over a season so we'll see where we are come December though.
I'm excited for the season and recognize that camp hasn't even started and the opening roster is far from final. But at this point, this team has not improved upon the team that ended the season. That's OK though. There are a lot of constraints and factors at play and just because they haven't made a move to improve (or any move really), doesn't mean they won't in the future or that they can't be successful. But the path to success is very narrow and involves a lot of (or at least some) leaps of faith.