Some thoughts through 10 games:
Overall:
People seem pissed off at the quality of the roster, but a .500 record is a reasonable expectation for a very young team that went all in last year and lost most of their key veterans and had several key injuries. I expect that we will see significant improvement between now and the deadline.
Defense:
- Carlisle and Gibson are such defensive studs. They make it easy for the young defensemen that they are paired with (mostly Evans and Solomon) and take pressure off of guys like Holub by taking the difficult assignments. We're really going to miss them going forward, but I feel like Evans is ready to step into that kind of role.
- Hopefully Brodie is back soon, as our lack of veteran depth has been exposed at times. I haven't been impressed with Velliaris and I think Gillen could use more development.
Goaltending:
- The aforementioned lack of defensive depth has put some pressure on our goaltenders. Schenkel has really stepped up and been great. I still maintain that it would be smart to trade him, but this stretch has only improved his value. I'm really happy that he has become a great starter after years of struggles.
- Miller started off with 2 stinkers and bounced back with 2 good games. He'll be the goalie on our next contending team and is NHL drafted for a reason, so we will have to get him more playing time at some point.
Forwards:
- I like what I've seen from the top half of the roster and the young players. Martin and Hayes look every bit like the elite studs that will lead this team for the next 3 seasons. Cloutier, Hilton, and DeZoete are doing what you would expect of veterans.
- Smith and Andrew are really nice young players that could develop into impact guys going forward. I've been really impressed by both, as well as Muxlow to a lesser extent
- My biggest indictment of Raftis' roster construction is not that he whiffed on a first round pick. It's the lack of players coming from the later rounds who can fill roles on this roster. I think it's really concerning that we are picking up guys like Bowness, Cardona, and Velliaris and giving serious ice time to guys who aren't OHL caliber, simply because we didn't draft well. The same goes for Vader and Brown, whose development has taken a nosedive. This needs to change fast if we're going to contend with the Martin-Hayes-Miller core.