Help me make sense of last season

[Russian_K]

Hi everyone,

I wanted your opinion on my team following a nightmarish season. I am in a 10 team points only keep all format, and on paper, I felt my squad could win the whole thing. Unfortunately, I had to deal with a lot of injuries ... I mean a lot. Also, my starting goaltender at the beginning of the season was Markstrom, so we all know how that went. I acquired Hellebyuck late december, but that wasn't enough. I ended up finishing fifth, just outside of the money. I have an aging core of forwards and a lot of them have regressed. So I'm wondering, since I have no choice but to be in a win now mode with this team, what would you do to make this team better? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Forwards
Stamkos
Gaudreau
Fiala
Buchnevich
Hintz
Marchand
Guentzel
JT Miller

Defensemen
Josi
Carlson
Dahlin
Hamilton

Goalie
Hellebyuck

Bench: Ovechkin, Zuccarello, Kopitar, Duchene, Krug, Gustafsson, Markstrom
Farm: Jack Quinn, Kent Johnson, Connor McMichael
Draft picks: basically no picks until 2025!

So, what do you guys think? Does this lineup need a shake up, or was this year just one to forget?

Thanks

[Pengwin7]

Yeah... just "hold" - you had a bad luck year.
This is a very solid team... all your forwards have 80+pt potential.
Your defenseman can all do 65+.
And Hellebuyck is still a top 5 NHL goalie... and may actually be traded to an upper-end team if the Jets rebuild.

I think you are in good shape.

[jeff_pro_mason]

The distress of another Markstrom owner ... Boy can I relate! Your team is legit, I see a lot of players having a bounce back season (Gaudreau, Marchand, Guentz), and if goalkeeping is solid from the get go, you're in pretty good shape still for a couple of years. Now, lets hope for a Marky resurrection ...

[zambronies]

You did a great job upgrading your goalie to Hellebuyck.

Without seeing the other teams, I would expect this roster to finish top 3 fairly easily.

Injuries really hurt you this year. I will say that some of your guys are injury prone though. If they stay healthy, you should have some great runs for the title in the next few seasons. The only recommendation I could make would be to try and trade some of the more injury prone players for players with less injury risk.

[rufio.85]

You've got a good core and it surely has the potential to rebound.
I'm not sure how many players are dressed, but maybe you could identify one or two players that are on your bench that have name value and try to see if you could get a younger asset in return.
Just so the transition starts on the edges. No picks until 2025 will hurt you down the road.