Holtz needs to be in the lineup
Lazar and Smith should be scratched by default
You just lost Foote to waivers

Holtz didn't play enough last season to be guaranteed a spot in the lineup. His development isn't as far along as you think it is. Foote is gonna be collateral damage, deal with it. Also, you really think Bahl is a better option than Smith?

There's 0 reason to believe that Holtz hasn't developed enough to be a regular in the Devil top 9 come 23-24.
He's been crushing it in the AHL for two seasons now and at 21 years of age he'll be more than ready to contribute night in night out with the Devils.

Watson (or Leivo) isn't an upgrade on Foote for 4LW, he's among the weakest forwards in the entire NHL.
Management is speaking super highly of Foote and he has a rather unique skillset within the organization.
Foote is not getting waived, he'll be on the 23 man roster.

Yes, 100%. Over the course of last season Bahl beat Smith out for that 3LHD spot.
There has been some indication from management that Bahl will step into that top 4 spot vacated by Ryan Graves and let Luke Hughes play a more sheltered role on the 3rd pair to start.
Everything points to Brendan Smith being the obvious candidate for the 7th D role with Bahl and Luke Hughes as mainstays in the lineup.

Not only is Bahl a better option than Smith, but if Nemec has a good camp I'd waive Smith in a heartbeat.

See Tintin's response for my thoughts on the rest

Okay fine, I'll put Foote on the roster, but as for Holtz, 11 points in 14 games is not "crushing" it, not a long enough sample size

Of course, but Smith's physicality will be an asset come playoff time. Hurricanes dressed him over the likes of Ethan Bear two post-seasons ago for god sake

Did you watch the playoffs this year? Bahl was far better than Smith. Changing your game in the playoffs is a recipe for disappointment.

So the Hurricanes would have been better playing Bear in the 2022 playoffs over Smith? It's the players adapting to playoff hockey, not the other way around

It is absolutely the other way around. Look what happened in round 1 when we stopped chasing hits, benched Wood and Smith, and returned to our game

Didn't look like chasing hits to me, and the way you describe it does make it indeed sound like players adapting to how the game changes in the post-season