The changes since October 2013
Budaj - Tokarski/MacDonald (I assume)
Bouillon - Weaver
Murray - Tinordi
Diaz - Beaulieu
Gorges - Gilbert
Parros - Weise
Gionta - Parenteau
Briere - Bournival
White - Malhotra
Leblanc - Sekac
With the possible exception of Gorges and perhaps Briere..upgrades in every circumstance.
bolded 3 are the only ones that I'd view as definitive upgrades... all the rest remain to be seen.
for as average or worse that Diaz/Murray were, at this point it's a stretch to call Tinordi/Beaulieu upgrades... I suspect they'll quickly prove themselves to be, but then again MT has a knack for creating a challenging environment for young players (short leash, disproportionate punishments for mistakes, inconsistent messaging).
as much as parenteau should be an offensive upgrade over Gionta, ppl seem to vastly underrate how much gionta contributed defensively whereas Parenteau is notoriously deficient in that regard... toss up at this point imo.
bournival - briere another toss up... as much as I love bournival's game, he provides nothing offensively whereas Briere was actually a solid contributor in that area. another toss up in terms of impact.
Leblanc-Sekac... another MT special... do you really see MT giving Sekac the kind of flexibility/support a 22-year old making the transition to smaller ice/NHL game?
lateral moves for the most part, injuries, coaching & young players building confidence/progressing will be the biggest factors...