Not citing them as a failed rebuild. Look how long it took for them to get “just one game away” from winning the cup. McDavid is now what… 27-28 years old?Edmonton was one game away from winning a Stanley Cup. It’s time to stop citing them as an example of a failed rebuild. If anything they’re proof that if you tank for a while and you get guys that aren’t good enough, you may as well keep tanking (even if it’s a new gm or two by the end of it)… as unglamorous and lack of style points as that may be. Had they said “ok that didn’t work” and Mid’d out to miss on getting Draisaitl and McDavid, they’d be materially worse off today. It also really shows how franchise gamebreaking talent can overcome a lot of executive level mistakes.
My point is it doesn’t happen overnight. A proper rebuild takes A LONG time.
You are right though that having 2 of the best players in the world helps hide a lot of the teams warts.
Yzerman is trying to build a team that doesn’t have any warts. It doesn’t have 2 generational players to lean on either. It’s going to be a line up filled with exceptional players and depth.