It's absolutely incredible that you can read what I post and that's what you take from it. Holy shit, man.
Let me spell out for you what I'm actually posting :
Its sometimes a good idea to actually spell out what you are posting.
We appear to have reasonably competent people making mostly reasonably competent decisions. The path/plan they've chosen is really the only thing they could realistically do given where the team was at in their competitive cycle and the quality of some of the young players here. I don't think they've been aggressive enough in enacting that plan, though, and they've also made some blunders - in particular the Boeser signing. The Boudreau situation was a disaster but that appears to be ownership's fault.
I would agree that they are a far more competent group than the previous one. This is one of the reasons I am scared for the plan they have chosen. I think they will be and should be fired after this plan fails. And who knows what idiots we get to have in charge of the rebuild... Then again... This year has been filled with mismanagement. Maybe they are not that big of a loss.
The bolded part; The state of the team was so devoid of assets and cap space, the things you use to add and improve any team, while being saddled with awful contracts that makes the team less likely to make the playoffs than not. They should have identified this to be the case and worked on this timeline instead of the one they went with.
The Miller extension is really the one that has the most dire long-term implications. Just as our cap situation will start to sort it self out he is going to be declining. He had the worst 30-40 game stretch I've seen a star player have here. Just like with Demko, if he played like a NHL center those games we are a bubble team.
Its the "oh you disagree with where I think this team is, you are a f***in idiot" talk that you repeat over and over and over and over and over and over that has brought me to the conclusion that you find absolutely incredible. Add to that how at every turn this year, that has been filled with office issues at the management level, you have defended or downplayed those issues.
The issues I remember you trying to spin:
- Health department. Especially the Mikheyev ACL situation...
- Boudreau handling was appalling. I don't really understand how you think the owner forced Rutherford to look like a bully on tv...
- Doerrie handling
- Boeser & cancer awareness night just shows how disjointed the management and coaching staff were, there should have been communication from the higher ups
- Hronek trade... I don't think people quite understand what kind of player we actually got here. This trade makes zero sense, even before his current contract runs out.
Im an old man. I am sorry if my memory serves me incorrectly.
This was probably a bubble team last year (+/- 5 points from 8th seed) on merit, but were sunk by a generationally terrible goaltending event.
I'll give you that Martin was horrible. With how many points they were able to get at the latter end of the season and with AHL / NCAA talent out performing Myers & OEL. Replacing those two with... two lukewarm bodies, and having Demko playing at league average level could have been enough.
I would still argue that goaltending is a position that deteriorates behind this kind of historically horrific defense. Only very few elite goaltenders are able to keep their form and wont start to cheat behind this level of horrific defensive play. We were comparable to the Anaheim Ducks defensively when Quinn Hughes was not on the ice.
I feel like you are trying to use the goalie situation as a get out of jail free card to justify your other takes for the state of the team. The quality of the team is that of a bubble team, if every single key player is healthy and having a career year...
They might not be elite enough and the situation might be too f***ed by Benning to actually open a competing window here. If that's the case, we're looking at a full rebuild in 2 years. But until that point, pushing forward with some of the best players the franchise has ever had is the correct plan. And it's what literally any ownership/management group would be doing in the same situation.
But sure, 'Rutherford Bro'.
I disagree that no manager would have taken the longer view here. First 2 years accumulate assets and sort the cap out, using some of those assets to rid us of a bad contract etc, work towards a contention window 2-3 years from when they joined. That would be 1-2 years from today. Having Demko go down was found money in year one of this plan. Having a top 10 even top 8 or 7 pick would have been an incredibly valuable piece, and lets just say right away and trade it for something immediate since you don't feel comfortable with the uncertainty of draft picks.
Instead they deployed their hockey club like a team competing for a playoff spot. Like a normal team. Unfortunately Jim Benning did not leave us a normal team. He left us a team with the cap structure and prospect pool of a team exiting its contention window.
#VideoGameLogic
