Well we need some thing to talk about as we wait for the new skating season to begin. We see all these stories and everyone suggests somehow everyone is moving up,k getting better, stronger etc. The fact of the matter is there are only three medals for each discipline and someone has to move up and that usually means someone has to move down. Even saying everyone is improving well someone has to improve a lot more and someone a lot less.
I'd say I would expect Patrick Chan to move down simply because he was or is on top but you can see Daisuke in particular ready to surge ahead. I think P and B in dance may move down as well I expect W and P and C and L to move up. I have no idea what to make of the two Russian dance teams who seem to be battling it out against one another.
How well the single male skaters do in the upcoming season will be not so much whether they can hold their own, but how much they can improve. In that regard, I give Kudos to the kid, Yuzuro, for really shaking the tree last season.
I think Patrick Chan is moving in the right direction, taking his technical abilities acquired through working with Krall and turning them artistic. When he is on mentally, he really is something. He has not peaked yet.
Dai may be the sentimental favorite, having a charisma that Chan lacks, but how far he can improve and in what direction. Everyone seems to think that he has the momentum now. I am not so sure. I was not that thrilled with his performance in Nice for a Dai performance. I thought he held back, playing it safe, rather than taking chances, and that he could be better than he was letting himself skate. I don't think he has Chan's natural ability (although he relates better to the audience) and am wondering whether he has peaked. That having been said, he is really smart and strategic, and that may push him ahead if Chan and Yuzuru falter, but all things being as they have appeared, I expect that Patrick will stay above Dai.
The wildcard has to be Yuzuru Hanyu. He is so young and appears to be going through a growth spurt that might be causing adjustment issues. No doubt, he will overcome them, but, in the interim, they could have a detrimental effect if they assert themselves on the wrong day at the wrong time. (Maybe he got them out of his system at DOI.) For his age, I don't think that there was ever been a more gifted skater, and even forgetting about his age, he is already in the elite podium group and worthy of belonging there. He has nowhere reached his potential, but whether he can keep rising through next season without (temporary) setback is difficult to predict. But what he was born with, no one can take away. Next season for him may or may not be big ones for him, but as long as he stays on course, probably within two years, he will be challenging (and possibly unseating) Patrick Chan. Both these skaters, working to beat each other, will make for two of the greatest skaters the sport has ever seen. (With great respect for Dai, I just don't put him the category of Patrick and Yuzuru.) I would love to see Yuzuru be number two next season - he could be number one - but if there one thing that you can predict about Hanyu, it is his unpredictability (most likely due to his age). He just has to keep focussed next year (and avoid injury . . . those falls at DOI were truly scary and he is - and we are - really lucky that he was not seriously hurt) and come what may, nothing will stop him from eventually prevailing.
Outside those top three skaters, I will be next watching Joubert and Machida with interest and love of the sport. Neither of them are going to be podium, but for the joy of watching great skaters, just their having skated does it for me. When I saw the DOI performance of Machida on youtube, I really felt awful that the odds are against this skater making it to worlds. For Joubert and Machida, I don't care about their scores. To me, they represent the very best of the sport.
Kozuka, I just don't have a good feeling for his skating. His rut seems to be really deep. His rebound, if he gets one, would be really a surprise.
Other than that for the men, I don't expect too much from anyone, but would love to be surprised.
Regarding women, I think that Mao might come back, but over a two year period. Next year will be part of the trajectory, but the culmination will be in two years.
Next year for all of the skaters is really the inbetween year.
and Chan is in his best age for a skater and maybe he will have a new quad so certainly up. 
, kostner, suzuki (i feel as if both peaked last year), maybe leonova too, i really don't know with her. i don't think miki will make a strong comeback.