maybe im biased but from what i saw and heard from Pando, Svoboda was a bright spot, at least earlier in the season. a lot of "the forwards aren't trying. except for the 4th line and svoboda." he isn't gonna put up big numbers but he does plenty outside of that. because he was one of the guys actually putting in the effort, later in the season he was put higher in the lineup than he really fit, likely in an effort to try and drag some of the higher-end guys into the fight. missed some time with injury too. im not that worried about him personally and i have even more reason to panic over his development than yall lol
with some of the departures i think the sophomore class can come into their own. a void of leadership in a locker room had an effect on the freshmen more than anyone imo, but there were flashes by the end. tough for a guy like Ritchie to settle in to the college game when the locker room isn't a great space, he was figuring some things out by the end. Lawrence remains a dawg.
i do have some concerns on what the blue line looks like. i am a huge fan of Haoxi Wang but he remains a very raw prospect. he improved immensely this season- reality is he had a lot of catching up to do. there's a big void on the blue line and it's unrealistic to expect him to fill it out of the gate.
the one remaining standout defenseman in the transfer portal is Nolan Seed. would be a solid add if they can lure him