Speculation: 2024-25 Coaching/Management/Ownership

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

If anyone thought this team would have a shot at the playoffs, send me your social

The playoffs shouldn't be nearly as crazy as some posters make them out to be.

Over the years the Panthers made it in 2011 with 38 wins. The Av's made the playoffs the year after they only had 22 wins. More recently Capitals made it last year and were openly sellers. If your franchise is consistently viewing the playoffs as a long shot, then you're closer to becoming the next Sabres than you are becoming the next Avalanche, Blackhawks or Penguins.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

The playoffs shouldn't be nearly as crazy as some posters make them out to be.

Over the years the Panthers made it in 2011 with 38 wins. The Av's made the playoffs the year after they only had 22 wins. More recently Capitals made it last year and were openly sellers. If your franchise is consistently viewing the playoffs as a long shot, then you're closer to becoming the next Sabres than you are becoming the next Avalanche, Blackhawks or Penguins.

The counter could be the GM overestimated their hockey ops process and has miscalculated their actions. When a GM gives your club an abysmal defense while simultaneously barely crossing the salary cap floor threshold and believes the team should be in a playoff contention, then there needs to be serious reflection. The following year, you get mediocre results with a new coach and more talent on the roster.

Anaheim is relying on its youth to take the next step forward b/c they don't have enough top-end vet talent to help guide them nor nurture them to becoming better than mediocre. Belief can only take you so far when growth of the youth stagnates or declines.

We're in Year 3 of the reset rebuild. I'm expecting more growing pains as we have a plethora of youths in their second season as an NHL pro and a couple of new rookies to the NHL. Year 4 is where the team needs to start weeding out weaker or failed talents and the GM needs to start adding better NHL-talent from outside the org.

There's a process to getting back into the playoffs, but hope should never be your best strategy.

 

[ohcomeonref]

Not only have our youth not taken a step, our best player fell on his ass.

 

[eaterfan]

I think some progress would be nice... But let's be a little patient and have some perspective.

No matter what PV "says" it's clear he doesn't think this team is going to compete for the playoffs. You don't barely exceed the salary floor if you are making a real push. If he thought they were a playoff team as constructed he would have signed guys to make us a real contender. Yes, he tried to sign Stamkos and Marchessault, but once they didn't sign, it was clear we weren't contending to him. We needed those guys to get us there. There were plenty of guys a tier or two below those guys who could have improved the team if PV believed we were really contending.

We're five games in and development isn't linear, as much as we want it to be. Some guys just don't do anything for a few years and break out. Hopefully it happens at some point this season. And the the further you get down the line, the less likely it is. But Carlsson is in year 2, Minty, Luneau, Zell, Cutter all have way fewer than 82 games under their belt. I don't think we should panic about them this early.

 

[LuGBuG]

I think some progress would be nice... But let's be a little patient and have some perspective.

No matter what PV "says" it's clear he doesn't think this team is going to compete for the playoffs. You don't barely exceed the salary floor if you are making a real push. If he thought they were a playoff team as constructed he would have signed guys to make us a real contender. Yes, he tried to sign Stamkos and Marchessault, but once they didn't sign, it was clear we weren't contending to him. We needed those guys to get us there. There were plenty of guys a tier or two below those guys who could have improved the team if PV believed we were really contending.

We're five games in and development isn't linear, as much as we want it to be. Some guys just don't do anything for a few years and break out. Hopefully it happens at some point this season. And the the further you get down the line, the less likely it is. But Carlsson is in year 2, Minty, Luneau, Zell, Cutter all have way fewer than 82 games under their belt. I don't think we should panic about them this early.

Logic is not allowed around here. Please move on.

 

[Deuce22]

Logic is not allowed around here. Please move on.

How can this team not be a playoff contender? The cornerstone forward and dman are 19 and 20, respectively. The goalie is in his first year as a starter. The highest paid vets either have been disappointing, or contribute little.

 

[Reveille1984]

Anyone that expected a playoff contender from this bunch is high as a kite.

That being said, you'd still like to see a little more early progress and cause for optimism from guys like Zegras and McTavish who are past the prospect phase and have a high first round pedigree. If those two end up stagnating or hitting walls in their development, the rebuild is going to be a lot more painful.

Too soon for the panic button, but something to watch.

 

[FiveTacos]

Anyone that expected a playoff contender from this bunch is high as a kite.

That being said, you'd still like to see a little more early progress and cause for optimism from guys like Zegras and McTavish who are past the prospect phase and have a high first round pedigree. If those two end up stagnating or hitting walls in their development, the rebuild is going to be a lot more painful.

Sometimes development is not linear though, there can be plateaus and regression. Years ago I read that very few skill improvements happen by incremental improvement. Sometimes regression comes from having to unlearn some habits that were holding you back from any further progress, but that can set you back for a while.

Logic is not allowed around here. Please move on.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

How can this team not be a playoff contender? The cornerstone forward and dman are 19 and 20, respectively. The goalie is in his first year as a starter. The highest paid vets either have been disappointing, or contribute little.

While I am still very concerned whether or not our young players are getting the quality coaching they need to progress, I think the bolded shouldn't be understated as to why this team is too awful too often. Those vets should be leading by example, the guys making the good plays, keeping us in the games and dragging us close to victory on many nights. That just hasn't happened since PV got here, although Vatrano has certainly earned his contract. Hopefully Radko's captainship will add some positivity this year. We just cannot have another year of "shrugged shoulders, WTF? answers" from Cronin.

Regardless of record, there has to be some tangible level of improvement this year.

 

[Rybread86]

Good little road trip here might do them some good. Time to bond a bit and coming off a good game like the other night, should be in some good spirits. Really Im not worried. And Im not expecting playoffs. I am expecting improvement and also expecting to not finish in the bottom 5.

 

[ohcomeonref]

Anyone that expected a playoff contender from this bunch is high as a kite.

That being said, you'd still like to see a little more early progress and cause for optimism from guys like Zegras and McTavish who are past the prospect phase and have a high first round pedigree. If those two end up stagnating or hitting walls in their development, the rebuild is going to be a lot more painful.

Too soon for the panic button, but something to watch.

If both Mac and Zegras can be perennial 60 pointers, I'd be okay with that. Although I thought Zegras was going to be a sure-fire ppg player for us, I'm more leaning towards Carlsson becoming that.

 

[Rybread86]

If both Mac and Zegras can be perennial 60 pointers, I'd be okay with that. Although I thought Zegras was going to be a sure-fire ppg player for us, I'm more leaning towards Carlsson becoming that.

I think Z can still be that guy. He just has to settle in. Some people complain about trying to turn him into a more well rounded player, that its ruining him or something, but I just see it as a learning curve.

Zegras, to me, is one of those guys who thrives in unstructured play and is more of a "do-it-yourselfer". They want him to not be a defensive liability and play within the structure. Once he can settle into that and it starts to become 2nd nature to him, the offensive side will pick back up.

I wouldnt be shocked if it took another 1-2 seasons for the young guys to really start breaking out. I just want to see progress.

 

[FlyingV09]

Not only have our youth not taken a step, our best player fell on his ass.

Who’s our best player?

 

[ADHB]

Who’s our best player?

Yeah, this confused me too. Terry has been our best player for several seasons, and still is.