For the sophomore defensemen, if I had to put a bet on who would have the best season, I'd pick Slavin. He was the one who stepped up the most when Faulk went down with that injury. Hanifin would be second and Pesce last.
As far as the forwards go, Staal will likely play with Nordstrom and Nestrasil again, facing the opponents top lines. Skinner and Rask will play together, probably with Stempniak as the "scoring" line.
Around 40-50 points from Staal sounds right, unless one of his line mates takes a huge step forward.