Intangibos
High-End Intangibos
I hear you but I think this is short sighted. There are numerous direct benefits to the playoffs and also some ancillary benefits that aren’t discussed.
The obvious benefit is to the young core. They will be able to battle against the best players in the league when there is heightened intensity and physicality. If they come up short? It’s a learning experience and will help guide their off-season training.
Our team has been coming up short in the less intense/physical regular season anyway. Shouldn't they already be adjusting their off-season training if they can only achieve mediocrity when things are apparently easy?
There is also a benefit for management. which players can elevate their game? Which players are important to keep and who can they walk away from? They need to see the new core battle tested.
Indeed, there are benefits such as these. However, they're what I would refer to as high hanging fruit. These are the types of adjustments you make when you're finishing up your build, not somewhere you start. Even in a full playoff run the sample size is like 1/4 of a season. It's statistically irrelevant. Players can easily have the run of their lifetimes and never repeat again in the regular or post season, while star players disappear when they happen to hit an inevitable cold streak. I heavily caution against over-adjusting due to a small sample size like the playoffs.
there are also less talked about benefits. Extra revenue for the team (yes we hate Aquilini but hopefully some of the cash flow filters back into hockey ops). Local businesses will also benefit from extra hockey, specifically must watch playoff hockey. Lastly, playoffs are good for the Canucks brand. RFA’s and UFA’s will look upon the team more favourably if they can demonstrate the ability to be competitive and make the playoffs.
this is just a half assed short list of some indirect benefits as I need to get to the pub. But you get the idea
I've never argued about playoffs being meaningless to the brand or Aquilini's wallet. I'm arguing against the alleged massive impact it has on players already on the roster from playing a handful of playoff games.