I put us comfortably in the playoffs. I think looking at the overall roster, we pretty much re-shuffled the deck. I could argue our bottom six looks stronger though. I think looking at other teams in the metro, they all have questions. Pittsburgh is going to be without their #2 best player for a while, and Crosby's going to miss some time. I have to think at some point father time's going to catch up to the Capitals (and Pittsburgh), and their goaltending situation is shaky at best. NYI lost a top 6 winger to the expansion draft, and had to trade away Leddy to shed salary. Philly's bipolar, and all of the remaining teams I don't think have done enough to surpass any team mentioned.
With Carolina, I think they're going to have to rely on players like Svech, Necas, and even Aho to elevate their level of play, which to me will determine if we're going to just be a playoff team or an actual contender. Svech needs to be a 30g scorer, Necas is going to have to be a 60+ pt player. I think Aho has it in him to be a 100 pt player or close to it, and I want him to want it. I feel like this could be one of the years that'll make Aho a top 10 player in the league with where he's at with age and development. Wouldn't surprise me if he scored 40g. Staal's going to have to continue to be a contributor on offense. Whatever KK can bring if everything above happens would be icing on the cake.
The defense is not something I'm overly worried about. I think our pk will remain among the top of the league, but the pp will probably obviously take a hit with the loss of Hamilton. I don't think our 5 on 5 defense will change much either offensively or defensively, or at least not enough to make a difference one way or another.
Goaltending is something I'm not worried about at this point. We were here before with Mrazek and Reimer three years ago when they were written off for their play the previous years and they turned it around. I was never 100 % sold on Ned because as I've stated in other threads he played all his games last year against more defensive-minded teams in the Central, and played Tampa without Stamkos and Kutcherov for the most part. In addition to being undersized for the position, he didn't have to go up against teams like Pitts, NYR, Washington, Boston who always give us trouble.
With Carolina, I think they're going to have to rely on players like Svech, Necas, and even Aho to elevate their level of play, which to me will determine if we're going to just be a playoff team or an actual contender. Svech needs to be a 30g scorer, Necas is going to have to be a 60+ pt player. I think Aho has it in him to be a 100 pt player or close to it, and I want him to want it. I feel like this could be one of the years that'll make Aho a top 10 player in the league with where he's at with age and development. Wouldn't surprise me if he scored 40g. Staal's going to have to continue to be a contributor on offense. Whatever KK can bring if everything above happens would be icing on the cake.
The defense is not something I'm overly worried about. I think our pk will remain among the top of the league, but the pp will probably obviously take a hit with the loss of Hamilton. I don't think our 5 on 5 defense will change much either offensively or defensively, or at least not enough to make a difference one way or another.
Goaltending is something I'm not worried about at this point. We were here before with Mrazek and Reimer three years ago when they were written off for their play the previous years and they turned it around. I was never 100 % sold on Ned because as I've stated in other threads he played all his games last year against more defensive-minded teams in the Central, and played Tampa without Stamkos and Kutcherov for the most part. In addition to being undersized for the position, he didn't have to go up against teams like Pitts, NYR, Washington, Boston who always give us trouble.
