A lot of reasons really, don’t like their goaltending at all, don’t like their defense at all, don’t think Suzuki is a true 1C, and their second line is just gross.
Jake Allen was probably the the worst of the bunch performance wise. I get it with montembeault. Unless you are watching the team daily, my perception would be that he sucks too. He's been fine for the last couple seasons, though.
Suzuki just had a pretty darn good season, and that whole line looks like it's got something going since slafkovsky joined it. Dach missed 80 games last year so yes, his injury history is a question mark at that 2C spot. He's looked good when healthy though.
The defense has been bad, and it's expected to be bad. 4 of the 6 dmen started off as rookies and that wave of dmen is now entering their 3rd season.... it's kind of a trial by fire, but I suspect it will continue to be a weak point.
All in all, I definitely don't expect playoffs at all but I think they have a good chance of climbing out of the bottom 5.... I mean, they have only been at the borderline of the bottom 5 the last couple years regardless.... it wouldn't take alot to get them over that line.