It certainly helps that Mark Giordano signed for an absolute gift of a contract, and with Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin continuing to develop, there’s a very credible argument to be made that their defense has improved overall, even with Jake Muzzin’s status very much in doubt moving forward.
The forward group is a bit trickier to navigate. The team returned their five best forwards, and considering how great their top four are, the group was always going to be good. They have two — arguably three — superstars in their primes and a still-very-good John Tavares. Michael Bunting is a productive player who can complement their top forwards well, too.