Who the **** cares about picks and prospects? Let's sit down and evaluate what it's TRULY going to cost this team to improve. We're talking Sergachev, a 1st rounder one year, a 2nd rounder another year, a top prospect like Katchouk or Raddysh and a player we aren't going to miss like Koekkoek or Dotchin. Now let's digest it.
We're just gonna sit back and watch another team get the best players because we don't want to part with a struggling 19 year old, a disposable roster player, a prospect who won't be ready for 2 years and picks 31 and 62 provided we win it all?'
Sergachev+1st+Katchouk/Raddysh = McDonough
Koekkoek/Dotchin+2nd round pick = Hjalmarsson
And if we really, REALLY want to get greedy
3rd round pick = Maroon
We're seriously going to NOT make the best move possible "cuz 4 years from now" as opposed to thinking 4 months from now?
If this team doesn't win it all then it falls squarely on the shoulders of Steve Yzerman not icing a team good enough to do it because God knows Coop has been making chicken salad out of Dotchin playing 1st pairing for almost 11 months now and only just a few weeks ago did the chicken finally expire and start to smell bad. Any and every coach in the NHL can stand to be better but he has not been the problem this year.
The reason teams like the Rangers failed to sustain a contender after going all in is because they suck at drafting. Since 2008 (10 years ago) they've managed to draft Miller, Fast, Skeji and Kreider. 4 guys worth a **** in 10 drafts when the Lightning have been finding that many almost yearly since Yzerman took over
Let me reiterate. WE. ARE. FINE. We are the gold standard of drafting and developing in the NHL and nothing about that is going to change. The only thing stopping us from being the team that wins it all and drafts great players is having the courage to win it all.
Every GM in the league is staying up at night trying to hatch a plan on how to be better than us and they can and WILL do it if we are not willing to do it ourselves.