I don't think Barroway is dumb enough to think you can turn a basement dweller into a cup contender in one off season. I take him saying this as more like "we're done trying to stockpile assets for the future." We've made some moves to bring in vets for young guys but not excessively so. It's not like we've thrown away the farm and several high round draft picks for a veteran team.
No? A 7th overall is almost a sure bet to turn into a decent NHLer. They also gave up another established, young NHL player (Murphy) and the top defense prospect (DeAngelo) for an aging vet and one in his prime. If that's not plundering the farm then I don't know. And I'm not so sure the draft really was such a weak one. Particularly in terms of scoring wingers. I don't remember to have ever seen that many have such an impact during preseason right after the draft. I wouldn't even know where to start. Many of them were really really good.
In other words...it's gotta be what Barroway says...win now. If they're not at least close from making the playoffs then those moves will look extremely stupid and weren't worth it. Team has no improve and become a serious contender within the next few years. Otherwise, the people responsible for messing up the rebuild will have to go. As simple as that.
Now it's about finding the right pieces to complement the roster. The special teams nid help in particular. They need a righty scoring winger and 2 or 3 PK guys. Not good news for Keller and Strome but certainly for Kempe who looked good on both PP and PK. Special teams are key for team success. Especially if the league intends to stick with what they're doing now in terms of slashing and faceoffs.
I can only repeat myself here...if this team is to go anywhere, then its bottom six players have to play valuable PK minutes and do a good job. It's not gonna work if the top guys have to do it themselves because the bottom six includes some stupid nonsense players like last season.
