A "good" AHL team is full of vets and aim to win, they're trying to strike a balance between development and winning.
I do agree they've been kinda sloppy with Laval's roster building (or rather they need an Assistant GM dedicated to Laval while Sedgwick focuses on cap management).
Started the season without a vet goalie to help Dobes, they need better AHL level C e.g. a guy with size and AHL skill that can help upcoming players like Kidney, Roy, etc... Still missing a replacement for Brandon Baddock, the entire team was L shot except Mailloux for a while, then made a trade for Cederqvist but he's been a real dud so far.
It's not all negative but I don't think Habs management gave them a good enough roster for the expectations / ambitions they have with player dev.
They banked on Mann being a good AHL goalie which has been one of their first real miss in AHL goalies since Robert Mayer (2009-2014).
A center line of Maillet, Gignac, Stephens, Mysak with Davidson, Condotta, Kidney and Andersson waiting in the wings was fine.
I agree they still miss Baddock badly. They have McKay, but he's not as good of a hockey player.
Keeper as a RHD was there from the start but got injured.
Cederqvist was a freebie AHL wise this year (since they didn't seem keen on calling up Laaouan which would have been great for both the RH and defensive D issue). Also, since Houle is the coach, I'm waiting longer to make a judgement since apparently it's normal for pro players to take months to get a playing system.
Still banging my drum that Houle needs to be replaced after this year.