Season Preview, was GM Steve Yzerman able to do enough in Detroit to make them a lethal contender for Playoffs this season, while the Bolts in my opinion got worse in the offseason but could they still make the Playoffs.
The Wings were a bottom ten team last year and looked to improve their chances to make the playoffs this year, as they added a top 6 Winger and a couple top 9 forwards, improved their top 4 on the blueline and got a solid backup goalie, but will it be enough to get the Wings into the playoffs after missing multiple years in a row now and being in a extremely tough Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, while Tampa was ousted in round 1 last year and looked to improve, but they lost their backup and replaced him with a 3rd stringer, downgraded a bit on the bottom pairing and added a couple 4th line forwards and a middle six forward, while losing two key top 9 forwards and their entire 4th line, and after looking like they had a very bleak offseason, could this be the year Tampa misses the playoffs or will they find a way to sneak into the playoffs once again this year.
%20(1280%20%C3%97%20720%20px)%20-%2016.png)
Detroit Red Wings
2022-23 regular season record:
35-37-10 for 80 points, 7th in Atlantic, 12th in East, finished 12 points back of Florida for final spot in East.
Significant Offseason losses:
C,LW P.Suter 14-10-24 79GP (VAN)
LW,RW A.Erne 8-10-18 61GP (UFA)
RW A.Chiasson 6-3-9 20GP (UFA)
C J.Weatherby 0-0-0 0GP (NAS)
RW,LW F.Zadina 3-4-7 30GP (SJ)
LW,RW D.Kubalik 20-25-45 81GP (OTT)
LD/RD J.Oesterle 2-9-11 52GP (CAL)
LD R.Hagg 2-5-7 38GP (ANA)
RD M.Pysyk 0-0-0 0GP (UFA)
RD G.Lindstrom 1-7-8 36GP (MON)
G A.Nedeljkovic 5-7-0 REC 3.53 GAA .895 SV% (PIT)
G M.Hellberg 5-8-0 REC 3.21 GAA .888 SV% (PIT)
Significant Offseason Additions:
LW,RW K.Kostin 11-10-21 57GP
RW,LW D.Sprong 21-25-46 66GP
LW,RW A.DeBrincat 27-39-66 82GP
C,RW J.T Compher 17-35-52 82GP
RW,LW C.Fischer 13-14-27 80GP
LD/RD S.Gostisbehere 13-28-41 75GP
RD J.Holl 2-16-18 80GP
RD J.Petry 5-26-31 61GP
G J.Reimer 12-21-8 REC 3.48 GAA .890 SV%
G A.Lyon 9-4-2 REC 2.89 GAA .914 SV%
Top 3 Red Wings picks in the 2023 draft
1RD #9 C N.Danielson
1RD #17 RD A.S Pellikka
2RD #9 G T.Augustine
My Current projected 23 man lineup
A.DeBrincat-D.Larkin-L.Raymond
R.Fabbri-A.Copp-J.T Compher
J.Berggren-M.Rasmussen-D.Perron
K.Kostin-J.Veleno-D.Sprong
J.Walman-M.Seider
A.Gostisbehere-J.Petry
O.Maatta-B.Chiarot
V.Husso
J.Reimer
E.Soderblom-C.Fischer-J.Holl
CAP: $78.44, SPACE: $5.06
Offseason review and Season Preview:
Now the Wings were able to do alright at the beginning of last season and showed that they looked like they were taking some steps forward but then they sort of fell off again as we got later into the season which prompted GM Yzerman to sell off pieces like Bertuzzi, Sundqvist and Hronek which would send them on a downward tumble to close out the season as a bottom 10 team, so they went into the Offseason looking for some help so they don’t collapse in the second half of the season again and I think they were able to do pretty good this offseason by adding some much needed help on the forward and defensive side of the puck.
Now first in Net for the Wings, they didn’t have the best showing last year as the Wings were hoping a Nedeljkovic and Husso tandem would help them be better last year, but it didn’t as Nedeljkovic didn’t do overly well last year and then lost the backup job to waiver acquisition Magnus Hellberg who did better but not by much and with more pressure on Husso to do well as the starter with the backups not doing overly well, he was thrust into a starting job he wasn’t ready for and although he was probably the best of the three goalies, he still didn’t do fantastic as a starter so the Wings knew they would have to get some help for Husso in Net with both Nedeljkovic and Hellberg leaving to go to free agency, and that is what they did. Now the Wings have 2 stud goalie prospects in the system in Cossa and Augustine who eventually should be good anchors in Net, but both are a couple years away from competing for NHL roles so the Wings need to get someone to help Husso for this upcoming season and they did, as they signed tandem goalie James Reimer to a 1 year deal and 3rd string goalie Alex Lyon for a couple years. Now getting both of these guys are good in my opinion given what the Red Wings went through last year, so Husso should remain the starter/1A for the Wings and hopefully with more experience of being a starter he can do better this year, then they bring in Reimer who will most likely be the 1B for the Wings this year and although last year his numbers were not anything spectacular, he was playing for a extremely bad Sharks team and even after a couple years in San Jose, he has actually looked quite good and I think he should do solid behind a better defence in Detroit, and then they also bring in some insurance in Lyon as he showed last year he can be a good backup goalie if called upon and I would expect him to go through waivers and start the year in the AHL, but if someone in the NHL isn’t doing good or gets injured he should be a fantastic replacement as backup goalie, so in my eyes the Wings did quite well in Net this offseason as I think Lyon like Hellberg last year should be a good 3rd string goalie, but I do think Reimer will be a better backup then Nedeljkovic was last year and I do like the idea of a Husso-Reimer tandem going into the season.
On the defensive end the Wings didn’t help the goalies too much as the team did wind up being one of the lowest 10 teams in the NHL when it comes to GA and the Red Wings were able to bring back a couple of guys on expiring deals who fit in really well last season in Walman and Maatta, but as part of them selling off pieces at the deadline, they moved on from Filip Hronek who was having a fantastic season to Vancouver to gain some more draft capital but that did leave a pretty significant hole in their D-Corp and some of their more depth players were pending UFA’s and went to the open market and left as free agents, so there plan for this offseason was simple, and it was to fill out their defence with a couple of improvements in the depth category and to replace Hronek in the top 4 and given what they did I think they did quite good. So first they would lose like we said Hronek in-season but would also lose guys like Pysyk, Hagg and Oesterle all to free agency and all were good 3rd pair defensemen, but to replace those loses they brought in a offensive top 4 defender who they signed to a really reasonable 1 year deal and that is Shayne Gostisbehere, as Gostisbehere is coming off a fantastic season with both the Coyotes and Canes last year and has proven the past few years he can be a force on the offensive side of the game as he is one of the better offensive defensemen and can help on the power play as well and even though his contract is only for this year, he should do a fantastic job replacing Hronek in the top 4 for this upcoming season, and the Wings also went out and added another solid defensive addition in Justin Holl, as the former Maple Leaf was also a UFA this year and should definitely be a upgrade on the 3rd pair from guys like Oesterle and Hagg, but I don’t like the contract as the Wings are paying him nearly $3.5 Million on the AAV for th next 3 years when he isn’t worth that much in my eyes, but still he is a pretty decent 3rd pair defensemen and can help offensively at times as well so even though I don’t like the contract, Holl is a decent upgrade for the Red Wings, and then they made a trade a couple weeks ago that sent depth defender Gustav Lindstrom and a pick to the Canadiens in exchange for Jeff Petry, now Petry is a good veteran who didn’t do well last year in Pittsburgh but at a reduced cap hit and still being a pretty good top 4 D should fit in well with the Wings, now he isn’t the defender he was during his good seasons with the Canadiens, but he is a solid 2nd or 3rd pair defensemen who once again is a pretty good upgrade on guys like Oesterle or Hagg or even Lindstrom who the Wings traded him for, and the package they had to give up of Lindstrom and a pick made it a easy trade for Detroit to make, so the Wings only lost Hronek and a couple of depth pieces and replaced them with Gostisbehere, Holl and Petry and although I do find some of these moves a bit confusing given the fact the Wings have top D prospect Simon Edvinsson waiting in the wings to play and I highly doubt he makes the opening night roster now after their defensive additions, so in that sense it is a bit confusing, but I do like all the players they added this offseason and although I am not a huge fan of the Holl deal, I think these three additions should make the team better defensively in front of Husso and Reimer.
And finally we go onto the forward group: now last year the Wings were 9th lowest on the offensive side of the puck, and that was due to top 6 forward Tyler Bertuzzi being injured most of the year until he was dealt and guys like Fabbri and Zadina were also injured and besides Larkin and Perron no player on Detroit his 50 points last year including down years from Raymond and Seider and also besides Larkin, Perron and Kubalik none of the Red Wings hit the 20 goal mark, so it is extremely difficult to make the playoffs when your offense is so lacklustre right now, so they went into this season looking for more offensive help and I think they added what they were looking for. Now they moved top 6 forward and good goal scorer Bertuzzi before the trade deadline as well as solid bottom six forward Oskar Sundqvist, so moving those two who were both pending UFA’s before the deadline made a ton of sense as it didn’t look like those two would be back in Detroit, and then in the offseason they didn’t really lose a lot of players after they signed Larkin to a mega long term extension in-season, as the only three significant players they lost in free agency were Chiasson who came in toward the end of the year as a bottom six forward, Erne who is a solid bottom six forward who was waived and finished the year in the minors and Pius Suter who was a decent middle six forward the past couple of years in Detroit, and on top of those exits they would also lose Filip Zadina, as both him and the Wings mutual agreed to terminate his contract and give him a fresh start which was a pretty big blow for the Wings as he was a high pick (6th overall) back in 2018 and they would lose Kubalik who was a solid 20 goal scorer in a trade we will get to in a second, so they did have some departures over the course of the season, but I think the additions will really outweigh those loses. So first in free agency on top of getting guys like Gostisbehere and Reimer, they also added to their forward group, as they signed one of the bigger UFA’s out there on the forward group in J.T Compher to a 5 year deal to help out in the middle six, they also signed some bottom six forwards to help with the departure of guys like Erne and Suter, as they traded for Klim Kostin and signed him to a 2 year deal with a AAV of $2 Million dollars to be a solid and physical 4th line forward for them, they also brought in Christian Fischer who has been a excellent bottom six forward these past couple of years in Arizona and should be a fantastic 12th/13th forward in the Wings organization and they also signed former Kraken Daniel Sprong to a 1 year contract that has a AAV of $2 Million dollars and after hitting 20 goals and 40 points in the Krakens 4th line last year, he promises to be a fantastic depth scorer in the Wings organization. Now these weren’t the only offensive additions this team had over the course of the offseason because just a week after free agency started, the Wings would send the Ottawa Senators solid middle six forward Kubalik, decent prospect Sebrango + a 1st and 4th round in exchange for acquiring and signing to a 4 year extension, RFA Alex DeBrincat who heads to his hometown team, and adding DeBrincat to the lineup basically replaces Bertuzzi as the go to top line goal scorer and after having a bit of a down year in Ottawa, I am sure playing with Larkin and Raymond on the top line will help DeBrincat find his 40 goal scoring touch he had in Chicago, so all in all even though they lose Bertuzzi and Sundqvist at the deadline, plus Zadina, Kubalik, Erne and Suter to free agency and trade, I have to say the additions of DeBrincat, Compher, Kostin, Sprong and Fischer make that a scary looking forward group as you still have guys like Larkin, Raymond, Copp, Fabbri, and Berggren amongst other that is going to make that offense extremely hard to play against this upcoming season, and in my eyes the additions this team had this offseason heavily outweigh the losses they suffered.
So my 3 reasons for the Red Wings to miss the playoffs this past year was the poor play toward the end of the season (especially after the deadline), the bad play from the three main net minders and the injuries that were sustained in the forward group. Now I think the offseason moves should be able to help this team fix all of these problems as the Wings have made a stronger group that will have them be more competitive for longer this year and should help the team not fall off a cliff later in the year, getting Reimer to be the 1B to Husso should help give the team a stronger backup then they had last year and also should take some of the pressure off of Husso who I think didn’t have as good of a year last year as he did the previous year with St.Louis because he was more of the starter instead of a tandem goalie and I think with Reimer now there, Husso should be more comfortable, and I can’t guarantee that this team won’t run into injuries like last year as players like Zadina, Fabbri and Rasmussen missing significant time hurt that team, but I do think they have some better depth then last year and would be better suited for making do with a injury or two in-season, and all in all I think this team did extremely well in the offseason to fix the holes on the team.
Offseason Grade B: The Wings went into this offseason looking to improve this team to maybe challenge for playoffs this upcoming season and I think they did very well on that, as they fixed the goaltending which was a big issue last year and have a solid 1B goalie in Reimer to backup Husso now and have Lyon in their system if they run into injuries in Net, the defence got a lot harder to play against as I think the additions of Petry, Gostisbehere and Holl makes this team a lot deeper then they were last year as I think those guys replacing Hronek, Oesterle and Lindstrom is a big upgrade and after finishing bottom 10 in goals allowed last year, I think they are on track to be much better defensively, and then while they did lose Bertuzzi at the trade deadline who was a liked guy in Detroit, they wind up replacing him as well as Erne, Zadina and Suter with DeBrincat, Sprong, Kostin and Compher which strengthens and improves that offense and I personally wouldn’t be surprised if this team had a top 10 offense this year, so in my eyes with the major upgrade up front, the pretty decent upgrade defensively making them more deep and the better goaltending situation, I think this team has had a B offseason as they have essentially blocked young players like Kasper and Edvinsson from the lineup right now and and I think they could have maybe gotten a even better tandem goalie then Reimer, but other then that this team has had a fantastic offseason as their top 9 could easily compete with any top 9 lead by a possible 1st line of DeBrincat, Larkin and Raymond, they have a solid defence that can now add Gostisbehere and Petry into their top 4 and I am a little more comfortable with the goaltending this year then I was last, so all in all I think they had a pretty good offseason and except for a few hiccups, I think Detroit got better this offseason and should are least challenge for a playoff spot.
Current 2023-24 record prediction: Detroit 38-35-9 for 85 Points, 7th in Atlantic and 12th in East, 5 more points then last year.
%20(1280%20%C3%97%20720%20px)%20-%2017.png)
Tampa Bay
2022-23 regular season record:
46-30-6 for 98 points, 3rd in Atlantic, 6th in East, went to Toronto in round 1 of the playoffs and despite winning game 1, they wound up falling in 6 games to the Maple Leafs, losing the series 4-2.
Significant Offseason losses:
RW,LW A.Killorn 27-37-64 82GP (ANA)
LW,C R.Colton 16-16-32 81GP (COL)
LW,RW R.Balcers 3-2-5 17GP (UFA)
RW C.Perry 12-13-25 81GP (CHI)
LW,RW P.Maroon 5-9-14 80GP (MIN)
C,LW P.E Bellemare 4-9-13 73GP (SEA)
LD/RD I.Cole 3-14-17 78GP (VAN)
G B.Elliott 12-8-2 REC 3.40 GAA .891 SV% (UFA)
Significant Offseason Additions:
LW,RW C.Sheary 15-22-37 82GP
C,LW L.Brown 2-4-6 30GP
LW,RW T.Motte 8-11-19 62GP
C,RW,LW L.Glendening 3-3-6 70GP
LD/RD C. De Haan 2-10-12 53GP
G J.Johansson 2-0-0 REC 2.10 GAA .932 SV%
Top 3 Lightning picks in the 2023 draft
2RD #5 RW E.Gauthier
4RD #19 RW J.Shaugabay
6RD #19 RD W.Clark
My Current projected 23 man lineup
B.Hagel-B.Point-N.Kucherov
S.Stamkos-A.Cirelli-C.Sheary
A.Barre-Boulet-N.Paul-T.Jeannot
T.Motte-L.Glendening-M.Eyssimont
V.Hedman-E.Cernak
M.Sergachev-N.Perbik
C.De Haan-D.Raddysh
A.Vasilevskiy
J.Johansson
H.Fleury-Z.Bogosian
(LTIR B.Seabrook)
CAP: $82.80, SPACE: $.700
Offseason review and Season Preview:
Now Tampa went into the season having been Eastern Conference Champs three years running and won the cup twice in that time frame, but had a mediocre season as they didn’t breach the 100 point mark this year and finished only a handful of points above the playoff line and faced the Leafs in round one, where they would surprisingly find themselves on the losing side of the first round series as the East Champs were dethroned and exited the playoffs in round 1, so they went into the offseason looking to get better and have a better team for the upcoming season, and I think they did the best with the cap space they had, but being a cap strapped team they couldn’t keep everyone around.
Now in Net for Tampa, last year they had a pretty good 1-2 punch in net as one of the best goalies in the world in Vasilevskiy continues to play at a extremely high level as he once again had 30+ wins and a SV% higher then .910, but his numbers were a bit lower then usual last year and you could see fatigue was starting to get to him after 3 straight Cup Final runs as his SV% was the lowest he has had since the 16-17 season and he lost 20 games in regulation for the first time in his career, while the backup was Brian Elliott who has done fantastic as the Bolts backup the past couple of years as he did have lower stats then his first year in Tampa but still had a winning record and played more games then that previous year in Tampa and in the playoffs Vasilevskiy, who is known for his playoff prowess, fell flat last year as he had a over 3.00 GAA in the playoffs and a sub .900 SV%. So Vasilevskiy didn’t do the best last year but he is still a extremely talented and elite goalie and the extra rest this offseason should help him, so the Bolts were never getting rid of him this offseason and he is still signed in Tampa for the next 5 years, so he is remaining the Bolts starter, but there was some question about the backup role as Elliott who has been a solid backup to Vasilevskiy the past two years was on a expiring deal and left via free agency and even though there were a ton of goalies (even some cheaper ones) available, the Bolts didn’t sign anyone besides Jonas Johansson who is a decent 3rd string goalie but not someone who should be a full time backup, and unless they sign someone before the season starts, Johansson will most likely be backup which would be a definite downgrade on Elliott from last year and they really don’t have any internal options either as the only internal guy who they could consider to be the backup is Alnefelt and he is still more of a AHL player in my eyes. So the Bolts still have Vasilevskiy as starter which I think is good as he is still one of the best goalies in the league, but they lose Elliott and add Johansson in the offseason which in my eyes is a big downgrade as I think Elliott played a pretty decent amount of the season last year and gave Vasilevskiy some nights off, but with Johansson I don’t think they would trust him as much and I think it is extremely likely that more pressure is put on Vasilevskiy which wouldn’t be good for Tampa, so maybe they do have another move in their back pocket to add a backup goalie before the season starts, but at this point in time I find the goalie position has downgraded this offseason for the Bolts.
On the defensive end the Bolts didn’t do much this offseason as last offseason they made their big moves on the blueline as they got rid of veteran defender McDonagh to have enough cap space to do their offseason business and they also gave long term 8 year contract extensions to defensemen Mikhail Sergachev who after the year he had last year for all intents and purposes may be now the Bolts best defensemen, as well as top 4 right shot defensemen Erik Cernak who is a integral part of the defence and they also added a few depth pieces last offseason and even though they weren’t as dominant a defensive team as they usually were, I think they did alright as Sergachev had a breakout year and the other defensemen did alright and because of the moves they made last offseason (including the Cernak and Sergachev extensions which kick in this year), they didn’t need to make too many moves this offseason. Now they didn’t have enough cap space to seriously work on improving the D-Corp this year but I think they still have a solid top 4 of Hedman, Cernak, Sergachev and the up and coming Perbix, as for their depth defensemen they still have Haydn Fleury and Bogosian who did well as 6th/7th defensemen last year, and they also have Darren Raddysh who came out of nowhere and showed he could be a good 3rd pair D-Men last year (good enough to earn a extension this offseason), but the team did lose Ian Cole to free agency this year and he was a solid 3rd pair defensemen, so they went out and picked up Calvin De Haan on a cheap 1 year deal to replace him and even though De Haan is not as good as Cole right now, he can still be a solid 6th defensemen for Tampa, so all in all the Bolts defence didn’t really change this offseason as they still have most of their D intact from last year and their top 4 is scary especially with Hedman and Sergachev, and they still have fantastic depth with 4-5 different guys who could play on the 3rd pair, but due to cap restraints, the Bolts had to lose Cole and replace him with De Haan who is a bit of a downgrade, so even though I think they still have a solid and deep defence their in Tampa, I do think it got a tiny bit worse this offseason.
And finally we go onto the forward group: now the Bolts were once again in the playoff race this year being a top 3 team in the Atlantic division, so they were buyers at the deadline and they made a couple decent moves at the deadline, one was trading Namestnikov to San Jose for Eyssimont who turned out to be a solid 4th line forward and someone who the Bolts would later extend to keep around, and the big trade that got lots of attention with Nashville that got them Tanner Jeannot in exchange for 5 picks in the next 3 seasons (23 3rd,4th and 5th, 24 2nd and 25 1st) and Cal Foote, so they were basically as all in as you can be at the deadline and they went into the playoffs and exited round 1 thanks to the Leafs, so the in-season acquisitions didn’t help go to far in the playoffs but they were players they could keep longer then just after the deadline, so they went into the offseason looking to bring those guys back as well as once again keep most of their roster together, and unfortunately just like last offseason when they lost Palat, they lost a couple more key pieces of last years roster. Now they still had some of their big names locked up long term entering the offseason as Kucherov, Point, Paul and Cirelli (who’s extension kicks in the offseason) were all still signed for at least the next 4 seasons, and then they resigned in season acquisitions Jeannot and Eyssimont on two year deals plus Hagel and Stamkos were still under contract so most of their team was still under contract, but they had 3 pending UFA’s who were big parts of that team who wound up leaving via free agency and those were 4th liners Bellemare and Perry who were both key 4th line players the past few years for Tampa, and on top of that the big loss of the offseason, top 6 forward Alex Killorn who the Bolts can’t sign due to their cap goes to Anaheim, so it was a pretty blow for Tampa as they always seemed to keep Killorn but now wind up losing him, and then on top of that they still had a tight cap situation so they were forced to move the 3rd part of that solid 4th line in Maroon to the Wild, and they also moved Ross Colton who was a fantastic middle six forward who would’ve cost the Bolts too much to resign to the Avalanche for a pick, so they lose Killorn and Colton who were solid top 9 forwards, as well as their entire 4th line this offseason, so the Bolts forward core took a pretty big blow, but they were able to make a few additions as they signed former Cap Conor Sheary to a 3 year contract to help replace Colton in the middle six and I think he will be a valuable addition after the year he had, and then they add 3 players who could challenge for their now open 4th line spots, one is Glendening who I think would be a solid 4th liner, as would Tyler Motte who goes there on a one year deal and they also sign Logan Brown who I feel would be a solid 12th/13th forward in Tampa, but I still think the fact that they lose Killorn and can’t get a replacement, I think they lose some value going from Colton to Sheary, and their 4th line will not be as good as it was the past couple of years will make this team worse in the forward group and also shaves off some more of their depth, and although I think they did good with the cap space they had, this was a bad offseason for them and only a year after losing Palat, they once again lose some pretty big middle six forwards. Now they did extend Hagel who was entering the final year of his deal to a max 8 year extension which was good as he is a fantastic top 6 forward for them, but Stamkos is now in the final year of his deal with no extension which is a bit concerning as well as I thought he would’ve had a extension by now, so all in all while the defence did alright in the offseason, the backup position for Tampa got worse and the Bolts top 9, 4th line and depth up front all got weaker this offseason and although they did good with the space they had, losing so many key guys, especially on the forward group has me a bit worried about the Bolts depth scoring this year and I have to believe this offseason was a all around loss for the Bolts, but I would love to hear your thoughts on the Bolts in the comments below.
So my 3 reasons for the Bolts exiting the playoffs in round 1 this past year and not going further was the fact that the Bolts were most likely extremely fatigued from going on three straight runs to the cup final, the below average play of Vasilevskiy and the injuries to key guys like Jeannot, Hedman and Cernak. Now on the first account I think they have improved this offseason as due to the fact they were ousted earlier in the playoffs last year, they were able to have more time off and I think they will be rested and recuperated to start the season, now Vasilevskiy playoff play was also probably caused by fatigue too, but I also think playing more then 60 games in the regular season was a big factor in that too which was why I said they need a solid NHL backup for him and at this point they haven’t yet, so I do think they didn’t improve on that, while I can’t say about the injuries because we don’t know what will happen yet, but they will have to watch out for injuries, especially to top players this year because they weren’t as deep as last year and I think if one or two prominent players suffer injuries this year that keeps them out long term, the Bolts will have problems, so while I think they did improve on my first problem with them, they didn’t improve on the 2nd yet and we will see about the 3rd.
Offseason Grade D: Tampa came out of last year having their season ended before the Cup Final for the first time in the last 4 years, so going into the offseason they were looking to navigate a tight cap situation as well as improving this team so that they can still be a dominant force to be reckoned with in not only the Atlantic but the East too, and as much as I think they tried to improve, I don’t think they did a overly good job. As in Net the team let go of decent backup Brian Elliott who went to free agency and brought in Johansson to be backup as on most teams he would be a 3rd stringer, then on D there was next to no movement as most of their defenders were signed beyond this year, but they did lose veteran 3rd pair D-Men Ian Cole who was solid for them to free agency and replaced him with cheap 6th defender De Haan who should help on the bottom pair, and then due to the tight cap situation they are in, they weren’t able to bring back top 6 forward Alex Killorn who had been a big part of their team, they had to move solid middle six forward Ross Colton who the Bolts weren’t going to be able to pay, and then they also lost their entire 4th line of Perry, Bellemare and Maroon which had been a fantastic 4th line for them, and then after losing these guys they went out and acquired Sheary, Glendening, Brown and Motte to help replace them, but Sheary isn’t as good as Colton in my eyes, the 4th line last year will be better then this years and they didn’t replace Killorn, so with all of these losses the Bolts offense and depth up front took a beating and even though they extended Hagel and Raddysh this offseason, which in my eyes were good moves, I just can’t see how the Bolts improved this offseason and I think they got worse which is why I am giving them a D rating for this offseason.
Current 2023-24 record prediction: 43-32-7 for 93 Points, 4th in Atlantic and 2WC in East, 5 less points then last year.
Comments
Post a Comment