Man I hope the organization shows a little more vision than that. We may be a little worse to start the season giving one or 2 of the kids a role starting the season, but we will likely be much better by the end of the season injecting raw talent now over defaulting to safe depth.
I think having talent at the ELC level can get you through the grind. There were a lot of minuses on the board last year among prospective forwards. Which means they regularly lost matchups at a lower level then the NHL. True North didn't field a team that could win on the farm last season, but when you start 3 rookies at centre there is growing pains. I don't mind slow cooking these guys, if the vets (the same vets as last year to a man, which is unique) can carry the weight. Good starts make it easier to play through lulls. Perfetti is a year older, Heinola is a year older. Those are 2 players who should be able to have a greater impact
The Jets probably have 4 veteran forwards, likely Moose bound, who could make the jump with a call, and contribute something to the team, so I am hoping to see the young guys make some strides, be ready to step up first for an injury. Dominate at a lower level. At forward I think the next man up can get pretty deep.
On defense I think there is 10 who could play this season. Fleury got a bargain basement contract, but I am watching to see if his familiarity with Chynoweth pays dividends. He's been a good penalty killer in Tampa, and I think that's an element the team will want to replace, losing Dillon, who had Stanley backing him up. The bottom pairing of the Jets is the biggest competition in TC in my opinion.
Jets may give Lambert a shot to win a spot, but he's going to have to dominate. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets in at least 4 maybe 5 preseason games.