Holtz had a rough year last year, so I definitely want him to have plenty of time to cook and feel completely ready, physically and mentally, for the NHL. I have really high hopes for Mercer, but being a 3C out of the gate would be incredibly tough. I get he is solid defensively, but the NHL is two levels above where he was. No need to apply pressure to him. His time will come. I'm fine with Jankowski being the meat shield this year and taking the brunt of the issues...There just is no real 3C option on paper now we can trust, nor anyone really available in trade/free agency.

I'm just excited to see the steps the team can take to move forward after the moves they made.

I can live without the playoffs this year if I see real progress over going into 22-23 worried that we might have messed up anyone's development.

Definitely agree that Mercer and Holtz filling those roles are a long shot.

As far as no real FA options at 3C, I think Eric Staal is a pretty perfect option but I imagine that he does not want to play on a team that probably won’t be in the playoffs. I think the Devils can be a bubble team, but that’s definitely not what he’s interested in.

Staal has taken a SHARP decline at age 36. His analytics were baaaaaad last year. I'd rather roll the dice on Boqvist and hope for upside than go to a player that really struggled. Can't even say it was because he was on Buffalo, he was bad on MTL too.