The one that got away... This stretch has only solidified one thing for me and it is I hope that Oke and this team never outright try to buy a championship again. We should be able to draft and develop year over year where we don't need to be hellbent on going all in with a specific age group (the '03s when we won) and instead can make necessary roster adjustments without breaking the bank and trading all of our picks and high end players like Nick Lardis and Jack Van Volsen that I wish were still on this team. I know I may sound like a broken record here but I never want to cut this deep again with this hardcore of a rebuild, when we instead could have age groups waves of talent that allows us to remain competitive year after year as opposed to only aiming for success once every three or four years. Obviously some buying and selling would take place, but the highs and lows will never reach what we are going through now...
In all fairness, the ‘06 and ‘07 draft classes for the Petes were horrible. Garbage really. Fine, you traded away a bunch of players to make a run but you didn’t have the replacements to even give you a chance. Then, for the rebuild, you traded a bunch of players you shouldn’t have. For example, if you had to do it all over again, would you trade McCue and Smith for Addy? Just some dumb trades. Way too many.
Had the Petes drafted a lot better or even average, this rebuild wouldn’t look so awful. The poor drafting in those two drafts make the ‘07s you acquired last year virtually useless. Those are likely trade bait next year and/or the year after to continue the rebuild.
You make great points in this post. Build a foundation and stockpile some draft picks. When the time comes, throw a bunch of assets at a run. BUT, the following year, you should only need to trade one key player, maybe two at most. You shouldn’t be trading everything not nailed down and then expect an expansion team (effectively what it is) to rebuild with nothing to insulate the key players you traded for.
I think this is an example of what not to do. It is fine to trade a little too much to make the run and win a championship be JEZUS, why rebuild all in one year by trading McCoy, Smith, McCue, Beck, Dubois, Mayer, Simpson, and Lockhart. Maybe move the OA’s but not all of them. Keep some insulation. Smith and McCue should not have been traded. Again, keep some insulation. Help your young players develop.
IMO, Beck is an obvious trade. Trade one of McCoy or Smith and keep the other. Keep McCue. Move Simpson, Dubois and Mayer and Lockhart. That would have been enough IMO. If you’d have had McCue and one of Smith or McCoy, the team woudl be a lot better. Maybe you win a few more close games. Your young players aren’t running around chasing pucks all game.
But, ultimately, if the drafts weren’t so horrible in 2022 and 2023 (especially 2022), you’d have a few more experienced players out there. Nothing can kill a team more than back to back awful drafts.
