So basically yes, you think the only option after Murray got the team to 8th from last, bad, but not league embarrassing, was to tank all the way to last and continue to stay at that level for at least another year, because woe is Buffalo?
I’m not defending Murray as having done good, I had many gripes, including hating the Bylsma hires. But that’s where your comments don’t make sense to me. Buffalo missed on Babcock, but chose to get a name coach in Bylsma. That doesn’t sound like no one will come to Buffalo. Housley was one of the most hyped coaching hires in the last couple years. We took him from a Championship caliber team. Don’t mistake badly misidentified choices, from an inability to recruit talent with a mega rich owner. Same thing with bringing in Okposo as a top ufa or Skinner accepting a trade. The idea that Buffalo is a black hole for bringing in people is a pre-Pegula mindset not backed up by facts any more than 95% of the league.
And what was left behind talent wise? Ppg center, two way 60+ point center. Two 50 point wingers. Risto. Two top ten picks/prospects. I mean for the faults this roster has to be a contender, it had plenty of decent options to be competitive. He turned it into a last place team.
Nobody is saying Botts should have made them a cup contender in year 1 or 2. But they have clearly regressed under Botts so far. And while I certainly support building thru the draft in general, imagine if we hadn’t won the lottery? What would this team look like without Dahlin being its best defenseman? I like Svech and Tkachuk and the Montreal kid. But those guys might help or bottom 6 today at best. You don’t win the lottery, we are guaranteed to be in last place this year. And there’s a great chance we pick 3-4 this year, which is no guarantee of a great player.
The whole reason tanking made sense was you had a guarantee of a top 2 pick. Intentionally letting your team bottom out again is moronic. The alternative, they ranked accidentally is just as terrifying.
Did I mention we traded O’Reilly, for a guy who isn’t that good anymore and got healthy scratched? St. Louis is giving us a pick in the 15-25 range. Again a pick, that even it works out, is not helping us for 3 years at least.
Look, I really hope we turn it around, and Mitts starts tearing it up. But there’s no way around the fact that these moves by Botts look terrible from an overall strategy perspective. Good moves like picking up Sheary and Skinner are annihilated by trading O’Reilly. Good move like trading for Scandella is wasted by not replacing the depth forwards used in the trade.
Bah, can’t wait for 2022.