Nobody here said that Yzerman needed to trade the entire Griffins roster plus his first-born child for Rantanen.
Well to get what you want them to get, its gonna take 3-4 top picks and 3-4 good to solid prospects.
They just not gonna do that.
A player like Ryan Donato likely wouldn't have cost anything more than a 2nd round pick. That wasn't unreasonable to have expected in the least, especially given the reaction of the locker room.
Ryan Donato doesn't move the needle. Why on earth would they trade a 2nd for him?
Actually, I've been following, studying, and playing hockey for the last 25 years. Additionally, Yzerman didn't start from scratch in 2019. That's a complete myth.
He pretty much started from scratch. And he did magic getting a whole lot more out of what was there than any other GM would in the trades he did.
Know who did start from scratch? Vegas (it's a myth that they got elite talent in their first year, their club was literally made up of leftover trash nobody else wanted and every projection had them finishing as a lotto team in 2017-18).
Vegas started with a whole team of middle six forwards. They had all the depth, thus didn't need to spend 1st rounders to trade for depth to their team. They could focus on trading 1st+ for bigger impact players or sign through FA. They got off to a better start than expected and thus could attract some players.
The Habs went to the Cup Final
More so based on luck than quality. Had absolutely no chance and thus went out again.
Habs I think are building well too, but they at the moment are not much of a better team than Detroit.
Though I think they gotten some more pieces IF those guys perform or continue to perform. Though, I'm not at all certain the structure they have and they build they have will sniff any chances at a cup.
It was never supposed to take over 6 years just to slip into the playoffs as a Wild Card. In what other profession do you get to say that you'll not deliver any meaningful results until over half a decade has passed?
This was always going to take a long time, 6 years would be minimum. Colorado used 10+. Tampa the same. Florida a long time too. Edmonton a long time.
Sometimes the meaningful results is the building process taking place and not the end results. No results besides Stanley Cup is meaningful in that case.
Chris Ilitch is one of the worst, cheapest owners in professional sports. Using his stamp of approval isn't a flex.
Said without any evidence what so ever.
Team could spend to the cap if they want, so no this just isn't correct.
Both at the same time. You cannot oversee the majority of the longest postseason drought in team history with zero timeline to get back into competition and continuously say "just wait for the kids".
If they have a plan, and sticking to that plan with the approval from the ownership to do so, then they don't need your approval of their plan.
Detroit's young players need playoff experience to learn the realities of playoff hockey. Absolutely nobody (with extremely rare exception) cruises their way to the Cup with a group of young players in their 1st postseason experience, which has been the common refrain of the Yzerbots who think there's no point in playoff hockey unless they're bonafide title contenders.
Again, no one has said a team is going to win the cup on their first try. But you just want to get in to be playoff fodder, and you just want to be there. They don't. They want to achieve more. If that means, in their perspective that the chance of being able to achieve more over longer period of time, is by letting the prospects mature to the potential they have and using extra time to build them up to be solid contributors to get there to the point they will be competitive for many more years than you want, they will do so.
Even if Ottawa and Montreal get swept by the Leafs and Caps, their young core of players set to lead the franchise for the next decade already have a leg up on Detroit in learning what it takes to play playoff-style hockey.
Yeah, just like the Kraken. Working well for them right? Leg up!
Again, no.
Except everyone else in the restaurant has finished their dessert and coffee, paid their bills, and left.
And won no Cups and complain about their future as one and done's or yearly playoff fodder like you like.