I think you dont trade for Brodin and yes theyre legit contenders. with vat and wood instead of brodin..With brodin I think defensive depth is shallow (based on your pairings), the offense depth suffers, and is banking on carrick smith being strong from the start with no hiccups

there are two legitimate scoring lines and during any rough stretch you toss out hall - hischier - panarin
depth is actually good, the third line played very well together and has offensive upside if they continue taking steps (i think zacha does for sure, wood I hope, but at least creates opportunities with speed, and coleman should continue to)
4th line is defensively responsible and zajac is still competent and capable of scoring 40+

then lines are
hall - hischer - palmieri
panarin - hughes - bratt
wood - zacha - coleman
someone - zajac - bastian (depending on boqvist progression maybe he slots in somewhere)

vatanen - subban
butcher - severson
smith - greene
mueller/carrick

Well put. Now let’s go sign a top 6 fwd lol

The big question is who is Cory Schneider. Is he the goalie who was quietly a top 5 goalie in the league between about 6-3 years ago. Or is he the TERRIBLE goalie you've had the last two years.

Blackwood did look good in the small sample size in the NHL last year but his performance in the AHL prior to that leaves a lot to be desired.