I feel confident with our team's speed and skill in both forwards and defense. We have some grit now and coming up through the pipeline. My biggest worries next year are the start to the year, goal-tending performance/health, special teams along with the growth and progression of Borgstrom, Weegar, McCoshen and possibly Tippett.
Speed kills and we have a fair bit of it: Trocheck, Dadonov, McCann, Malgin, Mamin, Vatrano, Matheson and soon to be Tippett and Heponiemi.
Skill is fairly loaded as well with: Barkov, Huberdeau, Dadonov, Trocheck, Borgstrom, Matheson, Ekblad, Yandle and let's not forget about Heponiemi again.
The compete level and focus to the start of the game/season has to be better, we were a great team to watch for the most part when scoring first. Limit those quick strike comeback goals by the opposition that kills our momentum. Boughner needs to find out what he has in McCoshen, this has to be a great year for him with the likes of Gildon and Stillman hot on his tracks.
Weegar looks like he has the opportunity to steal that top 4 RD spot barring a trade to upgrade. I'd like to assume if Pysyk isn't dealt, he will have a better year defensively, offensively he's been decent and has played every game in a Panthers uniform the last two years, so health is definitely an asset to have. Boughner should be open to the option of Matheson-Ekblad, Yandle-Weegar/Pysyk and you can re-unite #3 and #5 on the PP and have Matheson and Weegar take more PK roles while getting 2nd PP time.
Another thing we should focus on is clearing our zone with the puck when pressured and limit the turnovers at our blue/red line. I know every team gets hemmed in but this always leads to penalties or multiple icings.
Special teams being the third major focus, we found success on the PP with the stretch pass through the neutral zone and going high to D, low to forward on goal line and mid/out front for a shot/goal. Trocheck can't be our only option even though he was pretty successful, really looking forward to see Tippett, Vatrano and Borgstrom on the PP, some young fresh minds who can shoot will be a nice treat to see.
Along with winning the first face-off on a PP, this little thing enraged me over the last couple years. Losing that face-off easily knocks off a good 20-30 seconds and then by the time we'd set up, there'd be 35-45 seconds left and we'd be too predictable, always over-passing it.
We need Lu to invest in a hyperbaric chamber and turn back time once more. Without solid goal-tending performances and durability from him and Reim, I feel we will fight an uphill battle all year long, like the Flames, Hurricanes and Blues this year who all missed out on playoffs, largely due to letdowns between the pipes. 50-30 split seems good to me but need them to both have above average years in net.
If Tallon decides to keep the pick, draft a two way RD or another skilled C/W. Have the idea of possibly trading up into late 1st with our #34 pick + Mascherin and draft opposite of mentioned above or possibly trade down from #34 to 40th-45th and pick up a 3rd to draft a goalie prospect. We're all curious how this off-season will play out but pretty confident we are a playoff team if we focus on those issues mentioned above.
Vegas proves you can make it to the Cup with a team concept, a healthy blend of skill, will, speed, goal-tending and belief in one another. Don't change too much, we need more familiarity and stability with this team, one major add in top 6 W or top 4 D would help but I also understand if we stay the course, have a smart draft and then not have to worry about this part of hockey so much going forward.