There is a ton of discussion on how the players who specifically play defense need to improve. Hard to argue with that. I have seen it in a few other threads and did not notice anyone bring it up yet here ... our forward group is very young and often young forwards are not particularly great at ensuring they are sticking to their defensive zone assignments.
I would not be surprised if some of the much needed defensive improvement next year comes from the forward group improving in that regard. I think we saw glimpses of it down the stretch and I thought it looked magnificent at times; sticks in passing lanes, opposing players tied up in front of the net, denying easy zone entries with entirely too much speed. And, not surprisingly, we won most of those games. Did they have a hiccup here and there? Sure. Did they maybe sacrifice a few goals at the other end? Probably. But I think the signs point to an improvement in that area next year.