We got Bourque back, a top 6 player. Ryder is currently on the third line and will be replaced by Prust, a legit 3rd liner. Blunden is decent 4th liner.
Here's how I see it - our forwards are (in no particular order): Plekanec, Bourque, Gionta, Pacioretty, Desharnais, Gallagher, Eller, Galchenyuk, Ryder, Armstrong, White, Prust, Halpern, Moen. That's 14 guys so it gives us a little depth to work with, but considering we had two of those out at the trade deadline (Bouruqe with his concussion, White with an ankle injury) that means we actually had no depth available. Yes - we have Blunden and Dumont in Hamilton and yes both can contribute. But they can't really do much more than sheltered fourth line minutes right now.
Now, a couple weeks later, we see the real problems coming to light. Ryder is injured. Prust is injured (he will not be replacing Ryder tonight, at least as far as the info in this thread goes). Armstrong is injured. White is suspended. Where's that depth? Where's the scoring talent to replace Ryder? Dumont or Blunden? Doesn't inspire confidence whatsoever.
And you were referring to offensive depth.
Alright - I'll cop to that. I was speaking about offensive depth. But I feel the same way about our blueline. Something could've been done to hedge against injury. Drewiskie, when we were already down Diaz, was nowhere near enough. But those second rounders will help us in four years time.
The only bright side I see to the blueline is that we are still carrying Kaberle. We might never play him, but I think MB takes the risk of him getting injured if we need it in the playoffs. We don't even have that kind of depth at forward.