Every franchise has this discussion regarding rebuilding. It's all nonsense. If you have to rebuild, you rebuild. There are teams that cannot avoid it: Philly is one. The only thing worse than rebuilding is being mediocre with aging forwards that are not exciting to watch. Isles brand of hockey is only watchable if they are winning. When this team loses, with the way they play, it is unwatchable. The reason is lack of high end talent.
It usually takes franchises too long to decide to rebuild. Isles aren't there yet, but they have to get younger and cheaper at certain positions. The team is stale. The team has very little offensive swagger and the defensive game has eroded. You simply cannot rebuild with an elite goaltender either.
The best way for the Isles to inject some much needed skill into the lineup immediately is by trading Sorokin (probably). The UFA market stinks this year. I'm not sure what the trade market holds. The Isles can retool by discarding many of the high priced aging players on the roster (Pageau, the entire 4th line, maybe Palmieri). The other players are simply not tradable because of the term.
Making decisions to keep fans in the seats never works out: see Vancouver, Philly, etc. Most fans are ok with a rebuild if done correctly. The Isles don't need one yet. But they need to start understanding that the league is getting younger, more skilled, and faster. If they don't adjust, the rebuild will be forced upon them. Worst thing a team can be is old, slow, boring, and not winning. Right now the Isles are a borderline playoff team. A purgatory of sorts. Something has to give.
