Or you can actually view things as the positive they are and gradually adjust the plan based on what happens, rather than saying "anything good that happens to this team is bad because it hurts their draft position".
I said I liked the trade like 4 times now since it happened. At this time it's an inherently good thing.
However, if McGroarty stays here for half his career when the Pens aren't ready, that will turn into a bad thing. He will be eating big cap without purpose. That's because by then they could have cycled him out for someone younger who can help them more, and for longer, when it matters.
So it all depends on how close they are. No one can see the future. My gut says 2035 by the time they reach R3 again, when McGroarty's over 30. They have no 1C or 2Cs in the pipeline. Pickering is not looking at all like a horse 1D. Blomqvist is a big maybe. Same for Murashov.
They are not 5 years away, unless they seriously fluke out.
If McGroarty ends up being Matthew Tkachuk 2.0, that is a franchise piece that is very likely their next captain. I'm not going to be gushing about his trade value if the dude can pan out to that level. Looking at a piece like McGroarty thinking "what can we trade this guy for in 2030 if he pans out" is just insanely depressing, to the point where I don't understand why you'd even want to have a fan with such a negative outlook.
It's depressing because the Pens situation is depressing. That's not my fault. They put themselves in this position with delaying the inevitable, and prioritizing the retirement tour. They weakened their future foundation by letting assets deteriorate in value, and throwing huge cap at things that are slowing down their rebuild.
I'm just aligning myself with reality.
I kept it real when the Pens were winning Cups, saying a lot of positives and being hyped for a 3peat after getting Brassard. That's because at that time the optimism felt warranted.
We had depth, confidence, ambition. I didn't expect the Caps to play that well in the playoffs. No one did.
Now I'm keeping it real again. Lack of hope in any immediate future is warranted, because there's too much missing. I do have hope for the long-term future if Dubas stays here though.
I have full confidence in his ability to rebuild, if he's allowed to go all-in by ownership.