Will be in the mix for a playoff spot.
Krug, Carlo, and McAvoy should be a solid young core on D that will help them be successful for a while. With Z still big Z although regressing, a gritty bottom pair McQuaid, etc, their D this year could be anywhere from 15-20 to a top 5 unit in the league. With Rask behind them to make up for some of the high expectations for the young guys, I think they'll be solid there.
Biggest question is the forwards, and that is a majro concern from my persepctive.
Pastrnak is as legit as they come, so they can rely on him for many years to be a top line contributor. Bergeron is still a great player and gonna contend for Selke's continuously, but at 31 and the way he plays the game, I see his peak ending very soon, and he will be tough to replace. I liek Krejci a lot but don't think you can expect any mroe than 55-60 poitns from him at this point, and then there is Marchand. Who is he? Should eb in his prime, and I expect another~35 goals form him, but I can't see him ever surpassing what he did this past year. TBH I'd be surprised if he hits 75 points again. After that... well you have a lot of crap.
Backes and Beleskey are overpaid and underperforming, but can still be serviceable on a 3rd line. The remainder of the forward group is basically all big ?'s. In order for them to make the playoffs, they'll need their top forwards to repeat what they were able to do last year and have a big year from someone like McAvoy and/or Carlo. Possible, but too many questions up front to consider them a contender. Direction of the team is to retool. They're hpoping to maximize the last prime years of Bergy/Krejci etc,, and then bring in forward help to replace them and put aroudn Pasta while the D core develops into an elite young group hopefully.
Krug, Carlo, and McAvoy should be a solid young core on D that will help them be successful for a while. With Z still big Z although regressing, a gritty bottom pair McQuaid, etc, their D this year could be anywhere from 15-20 to a top 5 unit in the league. With Rask behind them to make up for some of the high expectations for the young guys, I think they'll be solid there.
Biggest question is the forwards, and that is a majro concern from my persepctive.
Pastrnak is as legit as they come, so they can rely on him for many years to be a top line contributor. Bergeron is still a great player and gonna contend for Selke's continuously, but at 31 and the way he plays the game, I see his peak ending very soon, and he will be tough to replace. I liek Krejci a lot but don't think you can expect any mroe than 55-60 poitns from him at this point, and then there is Marchand. Who is he? Should eb in his prime, and I expect another~35 goals form him, but I can't see him ever surpassing what he did this past year. TBH I'd be surprised if he hits 75 points again. After that... well you have a lot of crap.
Backes and Beleskey are overpaid and underperforming, but can still be serviceable on a 3rd line. The remainder of the forward group is basically all big ?'s. In order for them to make the playoffs, they'll need their top forwards to repeat what they were able to do last year and have a big year from someone like McAvoy and/or Carlo. Possible, but too many questions up front to consider them a contender. Direction of the team is to retool. They're hpoping to maximize the last prime years of Bergy/Krejci etc,, and then bring in forward help to replace them and put aroudn Pasta while the D core develops into an elite young group hopefully.
