Dotter
THE ATHLETIC IS GARBAGE
Any rebuilding team, no matter what strategy used, simply has to have multiple instances of luck in a short period of time to go along with making good moves.
Penguins got lucky they went bankrupt and became terrible in years they could draft a couple of generational superstars instead of a Yakupov and an Erik Johnson. Hawks got lucky getting Seabrook at #15, Keith in the 2nd round, and the the #1 and #2 picks ahead of them took Erik Johnson and Jordan Staal instead of Toews, etc etc
Wings have a few nice young pieces but need a bit of luck now....get lucky and jump up in the draft lottery and get Dahlin, then have one of the dman prospects exceed expectations and become a top pairing guy.....suddenly the future is looking pretty solid. Sure, that's a lot of ifs and is ultimately probably unlikely to happen.......but I don't think that's too much different from the luck other championship/great teams have gotten.
Being lucky is an understatement. It cannot be stressed enough. NHL is trying to make it so purposefully tanking isn't a guarantee and that luck/unluck is going to be the biggest true deciding factor if you're a contender in 10 years, or starting another 10 year+ rebuild.
There are bad GMs out there that can and do screw it up. I'd bet the farm Ken Holland isn't going to be one of them. But bad luck can make the best GMs in the history of the game look like hot garbage to tunnel visioned fans that can't see past the TANK, TANK, TANK, Oohrah! Mindless battle cry...