Roo Returns
Skjeikspeare No More
Realistically, what do you hope for to change?
Well, you hope Reilly Smith delivers more of an impact than Wennberg and Roslovic did, which is pretty doable to start.
You hope Chytil rebounds and is back to his skilled productive self, that would be a pretty decent sized boon.
You hope Fox stays healthy through the playoffs - like, he was still great, but he clearly was not his full self (I believe the final reports were strained MCL but the guy was in a mechanical knee brace for months before and through the postseason).
Finally, you'd hope that K'andre rebounds as well and is the more productive defenseman that we know he can be. It felt like his progression regressed last year. He has the most realistic chance of growing to make a noticeable impact difference.
Laf should continue to grow into a very good to great player. Schneider you'd like to just stay solid. Kakko I've given up on and don't care, just play defense I guess. You'd like to see more offensive production out of Cuylle, as it seemed like he became a hit machine and defense first guy that kind of lost his place as the playoffs went on (but how much is expected out of him really), and you hope Rempe can develop his skating and awareness well enough to be relied on closer to 9-10 minutes a game so that we aren't playing every 3rd period with 11 forwards.
Is that enough of a difference to get us over the hump that was this last ECF? Maybe? Odds are probably not? That's okay. We certainly have the ammo to have a significantly more impactful deadline as another note.
Longshot impact changes (impact as in actually makes a stark difference come playoffs, not just a "oh that's nice" but also I am not counting on or even wasting much hopefulness on any of these realistically happening) - Othmann or Berard comes in and is a useful productive offensive player, Trouba finds his legs away after injury recovery, Zib rolls the clock back a couple years, Kakko pulls his head out of his ass
LGR
I'd like to see Jones finally be a regular and both Edstrom and Rempe get serious looks/PK time.
I'd also like to see one kid work their way up whether it's an Othmann/Berard or someone else. I'm rooting hard for Mancini to show the 17 game sample size was only the beginning of what he's capable of.
Quick was great but they really need to find out what they have in Garand this year.