I was actually thinking of the leafs and did a little analysis. I checked Leafs RS finish and their draft 1st rd only since 2010-2020 and signed FA's once rebuild was over
2010-11 - Finished 22nd - NO 1st Rd Pick in 2010
2011-12 - Finished 27th - Biggs 22nd in 2011
2012-13 - Finished 10th - Rielly 5th in 2012
2013-14 - Finished 22nd - Gauthier 21st in 2013
2014-15 - Finished 27th - Nylander 8th in 2014
2015-16 - Finished 30th - Marner 4th in 2015
2016-17 - Finished 14th - Matthews 1st in 2016
2017-18 - Finished 6th - Liljegren 17th in 2017 & (Marleau & Hyman signed FA)
2018-19 - Finished 8th -Sandin 29th in 2018 (Tavares signed FA)
2019-20 - Finished 12th - No pick in 2019
2020-21 - Finished 7th - Amira 15th in 2020
what does this tell us. It seems they committed to their rebuild in the 2011-12 season
Were bottom 10 for the next 5 season 2011-2016.
Drafted a franchise player in Matthews in 16 and ended their rebuild in 2017 by signing key FA's
so we can say their rebuild took 5-6 years
food for thought, we are in year 3
Counter arguments would be Ducks, CBJ, Sabres etc... but I think we have been drafting better and developing better in those 3 years, just need to continue being waiting for prospect to mature and gain experience and transition from Rebuilding to Competing, which I think should start happening during our 2026-2027 not before
my 2 cents