Quote:
Originally Posted by stang
I don’t know why it’s unlikely that the top line doesn’t get back to career numbers.
Tanev isn’t a Brodie replacement, he’s more a bit of an upgrade on Hamonic. Hanifin is what he is I’d think. I love seeing him and Andersson on vs Mcdavid. I think the defense is weaker by a lot.
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I am not saying the top line gets back to career numbers. Gaudreau the last 3 years: 84, 99, 58 points. Monahan: 64, 82, 58.
They don't need to get back to their highs (and likely won't). But they were WAY off normal numbers last year, and a rebound of some sort seems pretty reasonable.
Agree to disagree on the defense. They will be better than last year. Probably by a fair margin. Even if Hanifin is what he is (unlikely for a 24 yer old defenseman), he is nonetheless significantly better with Andersson than with Hamonic. That is a fact, and that alone makes him better than last year.
And the 3rd pair, Valimaki-Nestorov, is also an improvement.
As for Giordano and Tanev, they will be used for shut-down and PK. Andersson is being slotted in for the PP. That will allow Gio to do what he does bet.