Craig Laughlin Fan
Rejoint: nov. 2019
Messages: 5,322
Mentions "j'aime": 5,746
this feels like a punt year (though that's hard to justify with Ovi pushing 40). They might sneak into the playoffs but I expect them to make move next year, when they have more flexibility with the cap going up and Mantha expiring, as well as a better free agent class and it being easier to move guys like Kuzy, not to mention that one of Backstrom and Oshie may not return next year.
Though I wouldn't expect the offense to be nearly as bad as it was last year, with Carbery at the helm hopefully using forwards properly, unlike Laviolette who used people like Mantha as a defensive forward and antagonized/scapegoated players when they weren't the true problem. They'll also have a full year of Wilson and a hopefully recovered Backstrom (seeing him out in public again is hopefully a good sign), and likely won't have the same insanely bad injury luck they had last year, which should help to rejuvenate the offense. (also having a new PP coach that doesn't just rely on forcing the puck to Ovi should be helpful)