Our defense will be a lot better than last years - Streit of course the obvious addition but full, healthy years from Timonen, Coburn, Grossmann and Gustafsson in addition to the growth and emergence of Luke Schenn and Gustafsson will improve the group of defensemen we put out every night by a lot. No more Gervais as our 4th most used defender, no more Foster or Huskins or Lilja or Meszaros (who honestly had terrible Corsi numbers this past year).
The forwards have gotten a lot better defensively, too. Healthy years from Hartnell and Talbot, plus the exit of our worst defensive forward (Briere) and the arrival of a really solid two-way play who can actually win draws (Lecavalier) and the possibility of a new young, quick, and defensively sound 4th liner (Laughton) I think the team's two-way ability has gone waaaaay up.
Lecavalier addresses many key issues but I think faceoffs and puck possession is the key. He will also be able to take pressure off of Giroux and Couturier/Schenn and gives them incredible strength down the middle both now and for years to come.
A 2nd goaltender should now be the no.1 priority. Tim Thomas, despite all that would be negative about signing him, would be fantastic. Play him 40 games, 30 games, or 50 games and give the rest to Mason. Mason isn't inexperienced, as the kid played over 240 NHL games before the age of 25. Mason is a key part of the team that I think people are overlooking. If all goes well this season, Mason will likely have won the no.1 role...
