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The problem is there will be more dramatic hyperbole and meltdowns if Vegas wins.
If they win then that means that every team that tried to build through the draft was wrong. On top of that it means that every team needs to try to replicate that style of team building (collecting extra players and banking on them all having unsustainable years at the same time). After all, we’ve been rebuilding for years and are still 15 years away, meanwhile Vegas did a complete rebuild in one offseason!
Apparently people are incredibly gullible when it comes to unsustainable things and always get fooled into thinking it will continue. We’ve seen plenty of examples on here, like Giroux’s bad play last year or Weals good play last year or CBJ last year or Vegas this year and so on.
I’ve not seen a single person here who thinks an expansion team is a model for all for how to build a team, thus making the draft less essential. They’re an expansion team who had a unique expansion building model — and yes, exceeded expectations, and yes, won’t be repeated even for another expansion team. It was a perfect storm. How on earth would the Flyers (and everyone talks about hockey with them in mind) mimic a new expansion team for how to construct a team? I’m at a loss.
Now, I see a lot of people who think how they play hockey is a good model; and frankly, it’s more the Pens model anyway. I don’t see the issue with that. They play a great brand of winning hockey.
There are degrees of unsustainable. This isn’t sustainable, without adding pieces through the draft or free agency. And they very likely will! Turning unsustainability into sustainability is a thing. Their stats as a team are rock solid, so it’s not Ottawa all over again. Their talent level, while likely to regress, may need to be re-evaluated compared to past assumptions as well. You say they’ll be closer to the lottery; I don’t see why they can’t make the playoffs again or be in the race. If they go out first round next year, it doesn’t change things. Hey, maybe they miss with good numbers, and that’s unsustainable too.