The problem with going down the list player by player is that it is a team game, and teams rarely equal the sum of their parts. Plus, simply saying this player has more (or less) points than last year, ignores the role they are playing as well as their linemates.
If we look at the 1st line, I think we all expected it to be better than last year, with Gaudreau and Monahan both a year older and coming off, if not bad years, years with slow starts. Plus the expectation was that Ferland should be a big improvement on Chiasson.
The 2nd line, I think it's safe to say, people expected to be the same, or maybe not quite as awesome as last year, but close.
The 3rd line was a mixed bag, but that usually included Bennett and Brouwer. And it never really gained much traction. Even without any kind of high hopes, I think it was fair to be optimistic that this year would be better.
The 4th line wasn't that bad last year, especially when Hathaway was in the lineup. But there was no reason to think we wouldn't get at least as much out of this year's iteration.
The D was upgraded substantially. Adding Hamonic to the middle pair, made them, on paper, a 1st pairing lite. And bringing Stone back meant an improvement on the 3rd pairing.
And then there was the goaltending. Certainly not everyone had faith in Smith, but even his detractors had to feel that things would be better than last year.
Looking at it from an age perspective, most of the key players are young, and there was plenty of reason to expect some progression in varying degrees, from Gaudreau, Monahan, Ferland, Bennett, Tkachuk, Brodie, Hamilton, and Hamonic. Plus Jankowski was looking to crack the lineup.
Last year we had the slow start, due to the new coach and system, as well as to the slow starts for Gaudreau and Monahan missing camp. So there was every reason to think that was another negative removed.
Then just as the season was getting started, they added Jagr to the mix. I don't think anyone expected miracles, or the nineties version of Jagr, but there was plenty of reason to think he would inject some talent, and some offensive help, to the lineup.
Looking at it in these terms, there was no reason to think that this year's version of the team wouldn't be better - and possibly significantly better - than last year's.
The media was in general agreement with that, and so was management as well as the coaching staff. I think anyone trying to argue now that they didn't expect this team to better than last year is talking their position, with the benefit of hindsight.
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