This team is probably top 3-4 in the league. Best defense in the league by a bit. Kinda meh forward peak but very good top 9. Okay goalie situation.

prob a bottom 8 team in the league.

I really dislike that 2nd line. Schmaltz is terrible at center, and I'm not sure Kotkaniemi should be on the 2nd line yet. Bottom 6 isn't bad. I just don't think you'll get the most secondary scoring out of this team and that is what ultimately brings them down.

I'd say they're a bubble team, but the defense and goaltending probably is enough for the playoffs.

Compare this team player by player to Nashville and tell me they're not way better

Hmm. Honestly, I don;t like the cut of this team's gib as much as some others here. Maybe get past one round, I think.

What would that do, as it stands right now NSH is likely not a playoff team either...

Igor Shesterkin will win a Vezina at some point

Possible, but right now he is a question mark, even though he looked good in his short stint this season.

are you on crack?

I'm not sure what's the reference with Nashville but he's right tho. Better top 6, better bottom 6, better goaltending, better top 6 dmen even without a Josi.

So Nashville is a pretty middle-of-the-pack team in the league. Josi and Ellis might be the higher peak, but this team's defense is better by a bit. Their centers are less garbage, and you have Hall instead of Forsberg, Fiala instead of Arvidsson, Palmieri is better than anything else they have at F - and then there's more depth. I prefer this goalie situation too. I think it's at least a top 8 team.

I feel like Carolina has this D beat with Slavin, Hamilton, and Pesce

Really? I think Hamilton is the best out of the bunch, and maybe Slavin is even #2 although one could argue Fox did better last year, but then there's the 4 guys on this team I think, with Martinez not far behind Pesce either. I think this team has 4 #1D's - although not all high end #1's ofc.

That makes sense I guess