I guess my last post came off a little strong. All I'm trying to say is that 3 of our top 5 had bad seasons last year. Gio is very very very good, he still likely won't be better than last season and likely slightly worse. That still means good. Dougie is great and getting better.
All that being said, I find it highly unlikely that all 3 (stone, Brodie, Hamonic) bounce back to career norms. The biggest concern for me is Hamonic and Brodie. It took half of last season for the D to figure out GG's system, if Hamonic has those same struggles he could end up on the bottom pairing or dragging down an already struggling (relatively) Brodie.
Therefore, I'd say this team had a top 10 defence on paper. Top 5 if the guys bounce back as reasonably expected. And near the top if a couple of guys have huge career seasons, in addition to everyone e bouncing back.
I don't think that's being overly pessimistic, just realistic. Sure me