Quote:
Originally Posted by Macindoc
No reason to expect Markstrom to take a step back, he just had his worst season and isn't quite at that age yet when the decline should be part of a trend. Lucic is already contributing little as far as scoring is concerned, so a step back on his part would have little impact. Hanifin and Mangiapane are still on that part of their development in which they would in most cases take at least another small step forward. So the only one I'm worried about of the ones you listed would be Tanev, who had a better than expected season.
The Flames are in a weak division, but I agree with you that they likely don't win the division unless Tanev has another great season and all seven core players who had sub-par seasons have bounce-back seasons this year. I consider this scenario unlikely, but with a full season under a real head coach, you never know.
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Yes, I don't expect these players to necessarily take a step back. That said, you can have players take a step back. This applies to both younger and older players alike. I didn't expect Andersson/Tkachuk/Monahan/Valmimaki(I thought he looked better in his first season) to take a step back last season either. It happens, and it's normal. I also didn't expect Hanifin to take a huge step forward, and Tanev to be such a difference maker. My point is that generally these things average out.