Joined: Sep. 2018
Posts: 2,510
Likes: 2,287
This team will shock some people...but by finishing middle-of-the-pack and missing the wildcard by 5-10 points. There's just too many new key pieces, and everything would have to gel perfectly to get into the playoffs. I think next year (2024-25) we can hope for playoffs, and we should be a top-5 team in the East for a half-decade plus if the cards fall the right way.
I'm just hoping for good development from the youngsters (Fantilli, Johnson, Marchenko, Jiricek, Chinakov, Texier, Sillinger), Severson, Laine, and Werenski playing up to their contracts, and Elvis rebounding to look like an above-average goaltender again. That would be a successful season, positional-finish independent.