Re the career years argument. That is fair. It is also fair to point out contract seasons for some of those career years. The people got back did well not in contract seasons so if Weegar remains unsigned he could have quite a year. There wasn’t a contract for Huberdeau to play for last year so it’s less compelling to say he had a career year and shouldn’t get the same. Yes that is possible. He may also do better playing with a better centre than Bennett.
I also think there may be a bit of a chip on the shoulder of some players in the team that read the press after Gaudreau and Tkachuk left. People like Lindholm, Coleman, Backlund, Markstrom, Mangiapane and others probably saw some of that material as a bit of a slight. At least if I was a coach I might use some of the bulletin board material. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a bit of a chip on their shoulder this year without Johnny and Matthew. While we can assume reasons for regression, there are equal possibilities for improvement.
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