It's clear to me the Habs are moving out of the first phase of the rebuild. It's not about collecting as many assests as possible anymore. It's about quality over quantity and starting to fill holes you see in the line up in the next 1-2 years with players who match the age group. They are still a couple years away from the playoffs I think but it's time to starting moving in that direction. I don't see them re-cycling the re-build core pieces
or making deals for more picks.
I agree. Usually a rebuild takes between 5-7 seasons. But we started with Caufield/Suzuki/Guhle already here, so that helps fast forward it. Plus the Dach acquisition helped us also.
The next two seasons, we will probably not do the playoffs, but chances we draft top5 are low. Probably between 7-10 next season and between 10-15 the one after. Yes you can draft a good player around 10ov, but chances are higher to pick a bust.
So we really need to draft the best player available that will help us long term. It can be a number one dman or a top forward. But that player must be a sure thing. We cant miss.