The time to retool was the 2019 off-season, 2022 is way too late with Matthews NMC a year away. Short of some blockbuster trade, running it back one last time is the only viable option and I hate running it back. Too few picks and prospects to risk losing more. These back-to-back three pick drafts are already going to hurt in a few years.
Based on the success or lack thereof of our past drafts, we don't know to a certainty that our present number of picks will succeed or fail.
Hindsight's an effortless, convenient tool when opportunity arrives. So is integrity and charity (giving the benefit of the doubt and account for all premises at the time in question). 2019 was the time to retool? If that's the standard for objective management, there should be a section on these boards to that effect: Idiotic GMs and What They Should Have Obviously Done When They Had The Chance.
Take another tired notion: First round losses: We've never played a team called "The First Round". We've played championship level teams for the most part with the exception of Columbus and Montreal. And only Montreal truly befuddled. The rest were populated with Hart winners, Selke winners, Rocket winners, Vezina winners, Adams winners, Norris winners, etc, etc...But! Shame on our 19 and 20 and 21 and 22 year olds for not imposing their will.
And again: The Cup is all that matters: It is and that doesn't mean patience, even infuriating patience isn't part of the equation. I said a while ago here - years ago? - that we'd have to learn to win. Which likely meant being ousted at every round including the Final before we did.
It's got to be the nature of information these days. That and attention spans. Add rudimentary critical thinking into the mix that's now as anachronistic as objective truth. Cobbled together. Because the truth is, there is a substantial contingent of fans who acknowledge the improvement for what it is and do so in the face in light of all circumstances.
Here's another exercise: Take Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander and on an excel sheet, list the club's records with and without them in the line up. If one proves less effective than the other to team success, then perhaps there's an indication of where to "retool" if that's the driving premise. And that means, instead of insisting it's Nylander that has to go when the club does (IF I say, IF...) the same or better with Matthews out of the lineup, the constant critics better stand up and be as loud in the uncomfortable possibility that our best player maximized is our best way to the Cup.
See it's clearly biased to repeat that our best playoffs performer over the last few seasons is our best piece to move to improve our chances in the playoffs. If "we" take our bias and place it solidly behind the quest for the Cup, the "retool" should entail getting the most for our club and it's success as possible commensurate with the piece(s) that have underperformed during the time of year when it matters most and underscored by our fiduciary responsibilities to build a deep club primed to deploy wave after wave in front of a premium goaltender.
And who isn't that piece? Why William Nylander of course.
I think the uncomfortable reality is, now is the time to move the piece that yields the most and is best for our bottom line. Or, we see the steps the club took. We acknowledge that there were external factors that reasonably pushed our club on to Game 7 when there was no cause in the play between teams to do so and we support our reality and hope and believe (again reasonably so) that our front office can mine more gems and take one more step.
If not, I think in our discomfort we should all remember and be comforted in the fact that Quebec/Colorado won the Cup without Lindros and likely only won the Cup because they traded him. And we should be as vocal in the scenario that places those considerations in our situation every bit that's somehow determined our best producer at our best hit is somehow the best option for improved playoffs results.
