Ehhhh

They're a playoff team but they aren't a cup contender unless Demko turns into 2006 Luongo

That bottom 6 is awful. They’re a playoff team but that’s about it.

Its going to come down to two things IMO how this season goes:
1. Can they get a similar level of goaltending they got last year
2. Can they get a player or two out of their 4 young Dmen

People tend to bash this teams forward group a lot, but theyre the most underrated element of this team and is deeper than they are given credit for. With Baertschi/ Lind in the AHL, and the addition of Podkolzin or Hoglander later in the season they should be able to survive injuries up front. Im not as confident about the blueline though, imagine this team without 2 of their top 4 dmen? Might be rough.

Agree to disagree all 6 guys are great forecheckers and defensively responsible

Contender is a stretch imo. Virtanen’s gonna need to pot at least 30 to make up for Toffoli’s loss, and that’s just to stay on par with last season. An injury to Schmidt or Hughes would also be devastating. I don’t hate the bottom six as players (yes they’re overpaid in general but they’re majority still useful NHL players) but it’s certainly not a strength, and they will most likely heavily rely on the top 6 to carry the offensive load. The 3rd pair is also a glaring risk imo, neither guy is proven yet and both will have to step up to some degree to make this team a contender. Not to mention Holtby is a significant downgrade from Markstrom and Vancouver’s style of giving up a lot of shots will not help him bounce back. I think they’re probably a wildcard team in the 7-9 range in the conference but not a contender unless a lot of things go right and they have no injuries.

this isnt even a playoff team bro. and if it is, its BARELY a playoff team

I think you're right. They finished 16th last year and are worse this year.

That bottom 6 is full of 4th liners. It’s bad.

Guadette and roussel are both bonafide 3rd liners