Precisely.
Yup. Rooting for as many wins as we can and know that if we're bad enough the deaft position will sort itself out. Been saying some are setting themselves up for major disappointment as this team, while playing some truly dogshit hockey, is just really not THAT bad.
In past mushy-middle years, I've always championed "win" and try to make the playoffs. Even if it was going to be a one-round-and-done playoffs, I figured that's always a goal worth shooting for. And if you fall just short and miss, at least you tried.
I'm fine with rebuilding, but will never actively root for the team to lose nor cheer for a Preds loss. If the team ends up in the "black hole"/"mushy middle" so be it. If we draft top 3 because we're that awful, fine, that's how the draft is supposed to work. Cheering for a team to lose is antithetical to the spirit of sport (even if not the realties) and is counterintuitive to wanting an org to be accountable because it normalizes acceptance of losing among a fanbase.
If we get there naturally then that is fine, but it doesn't matter how bad this team gets I am never going to cheer for them to lose. Why the hell even watch sports if you are going to be cheering against the results of your own team?
I mean, I'm not sitting there watching the games hoping they get scored on. But from a roster building perspective a rebuild makes sense for the team going forward.
Like I said, there is a big difference in rebuilding and tanking. Rebuilding means you move older guys out and bring other guys in. Tanking means you strip the thing down to nothing and completely start over.
We'll have to see how it goes from here, but Tomasino and Parssinen aren't burning down villages and Anunen may relieve some of the sting from losing Askarov (and we love our Finn keepers). Blankenburg and Wilsby are pleasant surprises, Barron may have more promise than his sebut -3 in 7 minutes TOI, and Svechkov hasn't been totally sidelined (and is a fun player). I guess it could be more dire than it is currently, but I still don't trust Trotz or Bruno.
Yeah, rebuilding does not automatically equate to losing, though it often will--it is moreso because NHL GMs are unimaginative and can't creatively build successful teams and default to tearing teams apart and collecting top 5 prospects for multiple drafts.
Some GMs recently have tried to rebuild without tanking. Doug Armstrong calls it a "retool", but St. Louis and Washington both are doing what you describe. Capitals are actually doing it incredibly well, it seems.
Not to poopoo this but we beat a Vegas team on a back to back, the worst team in the league and a banged up Minnesota team that wasn't interested in playing hockey. Any win for a dog crap team is good, but let's be measured. This isn't a playoff team.
I don't even think of where we're at as EITHER "tanking" or "rebuilding". Or even "retooling". We're in a more unknown territory in terms of being in an un-planned disaster season where we loaded up on old guys, ditched younger guys, expected to make the playoffs, wanted to make the playoffs, but now have zero chance of making the playoffs.
Red Wings also have had some wonky draft luck and don't seem to be turning any corners.
Yeah, I am 100% against "tanking" as some kind of decade-long roadmap to Winning A Cup.
That I agree with, you make the smart moves you need to make. In this case its to bring some speed and youth to an already aging roster. You move older guys out, you don't extend guys like Nyquist, McCarron, Smith, etc. when their time comes. If those guys are making your team better, your team stinks ( and it does atm ) and needs new blood.
