Quote:
Originally Posted by Badgers Nose
We keep our stars (execpt Hamilton) acquire some question marks (that are cap friendly to be fair) and keep a pile of meh on the 4th line.
We are weaker in defense and lighter on offence.
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Well we didn't really keep the 4th line. Stajan is gone. There's a decent chance only one of Lazar/Hathaway/Brouwer makes the 4th line. We just added Ryan/Czarnik which may push some people down which would improve the 4th line.
As for lighter on offence I think that's a pessimistic take. Look at the ages of guys like Lindholm, Bennett, Czarnik, Jankowski. It would be optimistic to assume all of them have breakout years. But it would also be extremely pessimistic to assume none of them will have breakout years. Look at their skill and upside, how can anyone be a fan and think all 4 will disappoint? Ferland's offence is mostly replaced by Ryan if you wanna focus on proven numbers.
The Flames have bet on youngsters with high skill and high upside to break out at some point. Personally I think its a good bet if your coach knows how to utilize them. I feel a lot more confident about a couple of them breaking out under BP than under GG. I understand that some like to be pessimistic but that's your choice. There's a heck of a lot of young offensive skill on the roster right now.