This is way to accurate and oh so sad.

Foligno and Jenner being 2/3 of the second line, as well as the question marks in the bottom-six and goaltending are probably what sinks this team. They could also be what saves it, but I'm banking on the more likely outcome. The benefit Joonas and Elvis will have are their capable blueliners that should prevent them from being shell-shocked come January.

Would a top-5 pick this year be the worst thing for this franchise?

do isles in reality next

I have a little more faith in Texier and advancement from Bjorkstrand and Anderson than that, personally. I think of it as "we live or die based on whether or not one of the kids in net can step up".

Don't know 'em well enough.

Anderson is the only really notable thing about that second line as it stands right now. Is he capable of driving possession alone?

Texier is the really big question mark: his NHLe is anywhere between 27 and 39 points. Is what we've seen from Bjorkstrand what we're going to get from him for the duration of his deal? His production has been pretty consistent save for a spike in shooting percentage. Was that a blip or is a s% above 10% what can be expected from him?

I think you live and die by two of the kids, not one. You either need that third line to emerge as a whole to make up for the lack of production coming from the second line, or Anderson needs to go supernova and one of the 3rd liners has a good season.

fair enough, this is rly accurate btw

Bjorkstrand's interesting because SH% in those high ranges have been achieved by him before... in lower leagues. He's got an established history of coming into a new league, struggling for a while, then slowly getting better and better until suddenly he's a sniper badass. He's done that with every league he's come into so far - except, as yet, the NHL, and it's been long enough that he's at the point where "sniper badass" becomes a thing. So we're all hoping.

Also, I think Jenner is getting a tad underrated as a playmaker. Foligno isn't a world-beater, but he's still mid-6 capable.

But you're talking about a player who's clearly grown beyond his peers in the Danish leagues and the AHL: the NHL is pretty standard in terms of quality opposition and I find it hard to reconcile that the spike in shooting percentage wasn't a fluke. If he does it again, then I'd be more willing to believe it's a trend.

Foligno is a fine 2nd-line winger if you have him replacing a guy who's hurt and for no longer than a month. His projected 82-game employment as a #2LW is not inspiring given his track record. Nothing about Jenner is surprising: his statline screams defensively responsible #3C and that the elevation is probably going to put him over his head.