Idk you have gauthier Frasca & Svejkovsky coming in.
You have lindberg, hallander, poulin, legare, Puusy and Roberts who you hope all progress.
I think there is some hope. It’s not worse than last year.
I hear you, but we expected the same last year. I'm not saying it can't happen obviously and I hope that it does, but I am saying they should fortify this team with a few (2? 3? maybe 4?) veteran guys who are higher caliber players at the AHL level who can help the team be more competitive and go on a deeper run, which will be beneficial to our young guys.
Adding high quality AHL depth is especially needed on the back end. POJ and Riikola need to be replaced, so I hope they can get at least one if not 2 high end AHL level Dmen. I don't follow the league much besides our team or seeing what the other top young prospects in the league are doing, so I don't know who's out there to target exactly.
The forward side I'm a bit less concerned about, but especially if they think there's going to be a 3rd guy to graduate besides DOC & Z (like Puusy), then I'm not sure how much we can rely on the young kids to take that big of a step. I'm sure a couple will, but not all.
I'm not sure if Nylander stays or goes back to Sweden. Angello is a UFA and may be gone. Bjorkqvist is an RFA and likely would clear waivers, but I think he's also a good option as 13th forward for us to keep up with the big club (because it's not like we're crushing much upside with him if he's spending a lot of time in the pressbox), especially if Boyle is not re-signed. So there may be a couple of spots up front we can fill with a quality vet F, if available.
Not at all worried about the goaltending with Lindberg and Gauthier, provided the former can stay healthy. That's definitely our area of strength. Gauthier had a fantastic WHL playoffs.