I think we should compete for a playoff spot.
That wouldn't shock me, but I'd feel better if they had one more significant add defensively. The Devils defense has tons of questions.
Subban - needs to be pre-injury Subban
Vats - needs to have a bounce-back year
Greene - need to hope his deterioration has stopped
Severson - needs to play full season like his last 20 games, not his first 60 games
Butcher - needs to be better defensively
Smith - needs to not play like 95% of talented 19 year old NHL rookie defensemen
Cory - needs to play like IIHF Cory (and move better as well)
There's literally not one guy in the above 7 key defenders that on day one I can say,
"I have no concerns about this guy", and that's disturbingly unusual.
Why not? They'd been > 90 points for 3 of the last 4 years. They lost their best player, but if you looked at it objectively I dont think it's shocking. Wouldnt shock me if they make it this year either.