I think the issue is you really have two camps that exist on here and they are so far apart, there is little to no space for agreement:
Camp 1: Wants to win a cup at any cost possible. Doesn't care if we burn down the entire organization for a few years. Would be totally cool with basically forfeiting games for 2-3 years to get a shot at a generational player or two.
Camp 2: Wants to win a cup, but also wants to enjoy watching a competative team and believe in the mantra 'once you're in anything can happen.' These people aren't cool with forfeiture of season and are happy to sell some assets, but still want to look at the here and now and hope to 'rebuild on the fly' so that they don't have to watch dumpster fire teams.
Unfortunately, I don't see much room to meet in the middle. I'm in camp 1 and all I want to see is one cup in my life that I remember. I couldn't care less if we forfeit the next 10 seasons to get a cup in season 11. My entire life this team has basically rebuilt on the fly. So I want to try something extreme and new.
I can understand why camp 2 won't agree with me, though, because they love watching the team compete on a nightly basis and hate when a team is essentially built to lose in hopes that their lottery ticket hits.
It's funny, as we go through this rebuilding process, I notice my opinions on this team tend to reflect how I approach my personal and business life.
I tend to be more of a planner and a long-term goal setter. While setting those goals I tend to identify milestones. In business, I think tend to develop mini-strategies that amplify those key moments.
But all-in-all, my approach tends to be methodical and about having the resources to cover something (whenever possible).
I tend to be one of those people who prefers to do it right, but a little slower, rather than doing it faster but increasing the odds of major mistakes. I tend to use past experiences as a gauge as I plan the future. I prefer calculated risks. I'd rather lose the battle to win the war. I take strategic retreats if it means regrouping and coming at a problem more aggressively.
I consider timing to be one of the most important aspects of both my personal and professional life. Sometimes you can't help timing, and you have to be nimble enough to adjust your plans. But many times, especially in business, I find timing to be essential to the probability of success.
I'm not inherently a proponent of the belief that the cream will always rise to the top. I think life shows a lot of evidence in direct contraction to that. There's a number of factors involved in success, and timing is one of them. You alter that aspect, even slightly, and it has profound ramifications --- good and bad.
Right now I see two contradictory concepts. I see a young team, with promise, but a decent road ahead of itself to let that talent mature. On the other side, I see a push to do this faster and aggressively move forward. The timing just doesn't match for me, no matter how many times I pour over the years being proposed, or the players being included.
Is it speculation? Sure it is.
Let's not kid ourselves, 80 percent of what we do on here is speculation. We speculate on moves, coaching decisions, projections, declines, results, contracts, drafting, and a million other things. Hell, once those moments come to pass we start speculating on why they occurred, what the thought process was, how it got to that point, and other considerations.
But there's two kinds of speculating. There's the speculating that takes into account precedent and evidence of similar situations, and there's the speculating based on what we want to see happen. Sometimes those things align, sometimes they don't.
Panarin presents a very interesting target. He's talented, he's in his 20s, and he addresses a need. But I think the push for him comes more from a place of passion and desire, then from a place where it seems like a natural fit. There's a lot of "Yeah, but..." responses when trying to make it plausible. I've been on these boards for 20 years and I've often found that the odds of success tend to decrease every time we see the word "if" or the response, "Yeah, but...". Because usually those are indications that we need something to fall into place that either isn't happening at the time of that comment, or has a good probability of not happening. And in this case, we tend to have a good helping of both.
