Truly our luck that we ended up with one of the very few guys who could indeed f*** everything up. There was a lot of reason to be optimistic back in 2018.
There was, but with hindsight even if one didn't call it from the beginning it makes sense now that:
An analytics obsessed GM with 0 NHL experience would build a soft team
His pet coach would accomplish nothing and be given way too many chances
Matthews only cares about money considering he f***ed off to Europe rather than going CHL/NCAA
Marner would be a man-child with his dad's over involvement
Ditto for Nylander, although he turned out better than expected
Captain Complacent Tavares would still have that loser stink from spending his career with the shitty Isles
- Don't want Brind'Amour. The Canes are just like the Leafs in that they haven't figured out how to win in the post-season (though they've clearly had more success than Leafs, but so has everyone) and he's been there long enough to prove he doesn't have the answers.
- Berube. Meh. One good run on the back of a historic goalie performance. Seems like he has the right attitude, just not sure he's going to fit with this group and/or have success.
- Gallant. He's taken two teams on deep runs his first year behind the bench. For this team, that would be a great start - say, a Conference Final next year? Then worry about years 2,3,4,etc.
The thing that makes the Canes different is they've won the series they're supposed to win, and they lose when they play the elite teams. Even that's an improvement on the Leafs.
Agree about Gallant. Anything to give this group a push into a conference finals. Worry about the next step later