Really hard to answer this question with any sort confidence until about this time next year.
This time next year we'll know if Monahan, Gio and Brodie's problems are a real cause for panic. We'll know if Sam Bennett has a real shot of being a top 6 guy or if maybe we should be expecting him to play a middle 6 role and the Hamilton situation will be clear too. At that point you'll really know if it's time to retool on the fly and we'll see if any of the hopefuls on the farm will be looking like impact players or more filler like we've been seeing from the farm in recent years (all of our impact players from the last 3 years skipped the AHL).
Both sides answering right now are acting on emotion. There is the blind faithful and the calling it how they see it crowd and both have their points. Next year this won't be nearly as blurry. We'll know. Either changes will need to be made or we'll see players rebound.
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