For a Carlton side in the midst of an AFL rebuild, 2017 is all about finding the balance between two key goals.
The first is continuing to develop their young list under coach Brendon Bolton after another year of significant turnover.
The second is ensuring that doesn't come at the cost of winning games.
In just two seasons, 27 Blues have either retired, been delisted or traded to another club.
Only Brisbane ranks lower for average games played but as far as the Blues are concerned, that's no excuse for not improving on their 14th-placed finish last season.
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"We're really keen to see our young talent grow into the place but that growth can't be mistaken for a rationale for us being non-competitive," assistant coach John Barker told AAP.
"We need to be competitive for them to grow and to grow as quickly as possible.
"We're a couple of years into a reset. We've got some good young talent from other teams but we've also got some really good young talent from a draft point of view.
"We feel like there's an element of depth there now, whereas a couple of years ago we probably didn't have that."
Some questioned whether the Blues would manage to win a game last season after trading away a host of established names and losing senior leaders Chris Judd and Andrew Carrazzo to retirement.
They ended up winning seven, with young midfield bull Patrick Cripps backing up his outstanding 2015 campaign and No.1 draft pick Jacob Weitering living up to the hype in his debut season.
Things didn't entirely go to plan. Skipper Marc Murphy suffered a season-ending ankle injury midway through the season and the Blues struggled in his absence, claiming just one win from their final 11 games.
But there were still obvious improvements, especially a much stronger defensive effort led by best and fairest Sam Docherty.
"We needed that to be the foundation of our game," Barker said.
"We understand we've got some challenges ahead and we've got some upside when it comes to moving the ball.
"We've obviously worked significantly on that. We need everyone to take responsibility for our ball use - our positioning, our running patterns from our whole team is critical."
Carlton again raided Greater Western Sydney during the trade period, bringing in young key defender Caleb Marchbank, journeyman Rhys Palmer and the untested Jarrod Pickett.
Marchbank, whose career has been disrupted by injuries, looms as a valuable addition with his intercept marking ability, while top draft pick Sam Petrevski-Seton has impressed with his silky ball use and is likely to make an early debut.
The Blues are also hopeful second-year forward Jack Silvagni can develop into the elusive partner needed to support spearhead Levi Casboult.
The midfield remains a work in progress but firmly revolves around 21-year-old Cripps, who shouldered a massive load last season.
Conscious of easing the burden on Cripps, the Blues are hoping for solid contributions from the likes of former Geelong recruit Billie Smedts, Ed Curnow, Sam Kerridge and Bryce Gibbs, who was denied a trade to Adelaide over the off-season.
