Quoting: pensfan21
Yeah I have really been driving the point home on this site that I think we should rebuild, maybe a little too much lol. I agree Sullivan Hextall and Burke all need to go. The thing is though the core will not play at this level much longer. It's remarkable they're still playing this well, but we all know after age 35 the drop off can happen and it can happen quick. When you have a core at this age I think it's very very important to surround them with youth. That's pretty much the only way they can make a run I think. That's tough to do just through free agency with basically all good players being above 27. It's also tough to do it through trades because we'd have to give up a lot of picks or Guentzel. That I don't think is a good idea because even though we re-signed the core, I think we can both agree that if we 100% go all in they would only be able to contend for 1, maybe 2 more years if they're extremely luck. And even then it is unlikely. To me, it's just so much trouble to go through for at absolute most 2 more years of contending. I know people want to see the core contend, but that will make the rebuild much longer and more brutal. We know at that point that business will be bad and the arena will be almost empty. To me if we can do anything to shorten the rebuild and lessen the down years then I think that should be the priority. If I thought we had a legit path to contend next year my opinion would be different, but I just don't see it personally.
You're good lol - not everyone is one here as much as I am so they might not know. Yeah those 3 need to go - agreed. I've always defended Sullivan and feel guilty since the GM kind of screwed him - but he's still responsible for playing people like Carter/Dumo, switching Rakell around, having terrible special teams, and not being able to adapt to not being faster than every team they play. Sometimes you need to switch things up.
Agreed, it's surprising they're still playing this well, which is what makes this all the more frustrating. They just need acceptable talent around them. And like you said, they could drop off a cliff at any moment. Yeah probably 2 more years after this is fair in my opinion. I don't mind if it extends the rebuild though. I'd rather be competitive for another 2 years and add 2 years to the rebuild than throw in the towel and start rebuilding now. And I don't think they are as far off from competing as people make it out to be. Plus, my issue is how do you even rebuild? Crosby, Malkin, Carter, Rust, Petry, and Letang have NMC and Guentzel, Rakell, Pettersson have NTC. It's not even like they can dump a bunch of guys for good picks or prospects