The amount of people in here that are simply OK with having a mediocre season next year, and not really trying to improve off of last season is simply staggering to me. How can anyone in their right mind be OK with possible regression?
I see all this crap about how we are in a good position for the 2019 offseason, but lets take a step back for a second. Let's play devil's advocate on few of the hot button topics.
What if Ottawa is not as bad as people think, and we end up with a mid first like 12-16 range? I see a ton of posters in here pretty much banking on us getting Jack Hughes. Personally I'd say the chances of that are less than 5%, a lot things would have to fall in our favor for that to happen. And when we get the 12-16th pick what does another mid first round pick get us? Another player a few years away.
Let's say we regress, and miss the playoffs. Why would any potential good UFAs want to come to a middling team with no chance of winning the Cup? What big names have we lured to Colorado recently through UFA? The answer is 0. No one wants to come to a team that isn't winning. We miss the playoffs you can pretty much kiss any chance of a Stone or Panarin or pretty much any UFA worth a crap coming here. I don't care how much money you throw at them they aren't going to come to a mid market team with a recent history of missing the playoffs. So really what good is it to have 30M+ in cap space next year if you're not really going to have a chance to use in on anyone of significance. We're not New York or LA or Chicago where the lure of playing a big market is still appealing even if the team is weaker. We have to be a good team for top players to even consider us. Look at Tavares, he wouldn't even consider us. Why would it be any different for other top guys?
At some point or another you have to get better for a prolonged period of time. You can't just keep banking on prospects tearing it up and stuff like winning the 1st overall pick. It might happen, and if so great, but there is also the high likelihood that it won't work out perfectly. Thus why you have to have a plan if it doesn't work out that way. And right now I can't see any other "plan" from Sakic if they don't get significant improvement from their young prospects/players and we don't win a top pick next year who can step in right away and help secondary scoring.
"How can anyone in their right mind be OK with possible regression?"
Because we're still a rebuilding team and the development of our young players and prospects is just as important as the results in the standings to me. I obviously want the Avs to win every game and make the playoffs, but I don't want to hinder the future development of the team in the process. I know you think signing Stastny wouldn't have hindered it, but that's already been discussed.
"What if Ottawa is not as bad as people think, and we end up with a mid first like 12-16 range?"
I think all the Jack Hughes talk isn't entirely serious. It's basically a meme at this point. The fact is, we've already won that trade and pretty much any player we draft with the Ottawa pick will be a great bonus. Nobody is banking the future of this team on Jack Hughes.
Let's say we regress, and miss the playoffs. Why would any potential good UFAs want to come to a middling team with no chance of winning the Cup?
Maybe we miss out on the top ones, but are you claiming that
no free agents would ever want to sign here and play with MacKinnon and the rest of our young guys? If we can see that this team has a good future, then so can free agents. And if it genuinely looks like the team doesn't have a good future, then free agents aren't going to fix the problem.
"At some point or another you have to get better for a prolonged period of time."
Yes, and the way to do this is drafting well, developing from within, and filling holes carefully in free agency. I can't think of a single team that signed a top free agent and as a result went from being a rebuilding team to a contender. In fact, the majority of teams who sign top free agents end up regretting the deal.
Also, can everyone please remember that the offseason isn't over and Sakic may not be done making moves.
