I don't know if I'd say we're terrifying. I like WPG's forwards and NSH's defense more than ours. I like about 20 goalies more than ours. Maybe if we find a couple impact guys for the next few years in the mix of Thomas/Kyrou/Bokk/Kostin, and if Dunn can continue to improve toward being a top-pair guy, I'd say "terrifying". For now, I'd probably say we're "impoved".

One thing this lineup lacks a bit of in the middle six is speed.

I agree, we haven't been a fast team lately and we still won't be until we promote some of our prospects. But I do think the offseason changes, while they didn't make us faster, make us more offensive. Last year we had like 7-8 forwards that were offensive black holes for long stretches at a time. Some of those underperformers are gone, and the ones that are left will be in much more suitable roles. I like our playoff odds going into the year. (And I'm not gonna mention Jake Allen because it's beat to death lol.)