I still haven't voted, but I'm torn between 'make the playoffs' and 'just miss the playoffs.' I would bet on us making the playoffs before I bet on us to pick top 10.
I think the bottom 6 forward group got noticeably better offensively and defensively. I also see a group capable of playing faster and more physical than last year's group. And I see enough organizational depth (and bottom 6ers with potential upside) to withstand a couple injuries. We were fortunate to avoid injuries last year, but I think this year's group is more capable of sliding up the lineup than last year's was.
This is massively important because the top line wasn't the problem last year. Thomas, Kyrou, and Buch were +18, +8, and +6 respectively at 5 on 5 last season. Torpo, Sunny, Kap, MacMac, Vrana, Alexandrov, Blais, and Dean all had a GF% of 43% or worse last season with 5 of the 8 being in the 30s. The 2nd line also struggled, falling in the 45% to 47% range. I'm not sure if that will improve, but the drastic reconstruction of the bottom 6 should lead to a big change in how badly we got caved in when our top 3 forwards weren't on the ice.
I think we have an actual NHL caliber D group this year. P.O Joseph is an actual NHL D man. Suter is an actual NHL D man. I think Broberg is an actual NHL D man. It is going to be very interesting to see how we construct the blueline, but I see more potential combos to adequacy than we had last year.
I still like our goalie tandem a lot. I don't expect Binner to be as good as he was last year. That is much more a compliment of his play last year than a shot at what I think he can do this year. He can be the league's 5th best goalie this year and it would be a downgrade from what he was last year. But I think Hofer is capable of providing the same level of play as last year over an additional 5-10 starts. I expect another good year in net (even if it isn't the top 5 tandem performance we got last year).
All in all, I see a group that should be much better defensively than it was last year. I don't expect to be a top 10 defensive team in the league, but I don't expect us to be bottom 5 like last year. Simply moving up to the 20th-25th range in a lot of defensive metrics would go a long way to easing the burden on the goalies.
A couple things need to go right. We need 1-2 of the new guys to improve their game with a change of scenery. But if that happens, I see a team that should be on the right side of the playoff bubble. If those things don't go right, then I see a team that should be on the wrong side of the bubble. But I do think the bubble is where we should lane barring a ton of injuries.