I think that if Chevy can get a really good return on McGroarty that fills an important gap, and Lambert and Salomonsson continue on their trajectory well above their draft positions, the Jets will be in a stronger position. I also think that Barlow has a chance to really "pop" as a prospect if he has a good summer of training and has an injury-free season. He's the type of forceful and rugged winger with v good scoring ability that can really complement a top-6 and juice a PP.
I would also reiterate how much additional value the Jets could probably get just by flipping Connor and Ehlers as Scheifele's LW. That one switch would likely compensate for a bit of a dip in goaltending.
The downside of a rebuild is that so many of them go off the rails because it's very tough to thread the needle in terms of optimizing competitive windows and a miss on a top-end draft pick basically torpedoes the entire plan. I don't think it's a more probable way to the top than the sort of strategy that Chevy has pursued, banking on some unexpected leaps by prospects and a good trade or two.
A lot of 'ifs' in that 1st paragraph. But yes, there is potential.
The way the McGro thing has gone so far I'm really dialing down my expectations for the return, though I am still hopeful.
The problem I see with Lambert, Salo and Barlow, etc, is that they are probably a year or two too late for the Scheifele/Helle window. Lambert finally gives us the 2C we have been needing just as Scheifele slides below 1C level. Salo replaces Pionk at 2RD but DeMelo can no longer manage 1RD. We are just marking time. The nice new players we have coming up just replace expiring assets.
We need to distinguish between a rebuild and a tank. A tank is scorched earth. The main point of failure is lack of veterans to lead the newly drafted young players. Or at least that is one key weakness. Timing is another. Collecting a bunch of 1st rd picks in a weak or shallow draft doesn't work very well. Ask Buffalo. The 23 draft would have been a good one to have a lot of picks in. 24 not so much, though it might turn out to have at least been fairly deep.
A rebuild can be a little less drastic. You retain enough vets to help the kids adapt to the NHL. You can still finish low enough to acquire a few very high level picks and you might get some lottery luck. We didn't tank in 16 but managed to finish in 6th draft spot and upgrade to 2nd in the lottery. Unfortunately 16 wasn't the best of draft classes. We had 2, 22 and 36. What would those picks have netted us in 23? In 23 those picks were Leo Carlsson, Oliver Bonk and Kasper Halttunen.
I'm interested in seeing how Chi does. They went the tank route but they have been acquiring a lot of formerly good vets to shelter/protect and mentor their young players. These were mid level players in their primes who should still command some respect from the kids. They are available to pretty much anyone in FA or trade. The plan appears to be to have them fill the roles that would otherwise have belonged to the in house vets after those guys were traded for picks.
It remains to be seen if Chevy can make the good trades needed. I like the strategy of rebuilding on the fly but I think that requires dropping down briefly to add a top player or two. Either that or some outstanding luck in the draft.
To each his own.
