No, that obviously wouldn't happen, but the idea of the team 'capitulating' to appease the impatient portion of the fanbase..isnt going to happen...Quitting isnt an option.
If having an imagination means involves quitting, or 'giving up'.(that involves no imagination)..Thats an incredibly weak standard for any professional organization.
It's not that I disagree in principle, but I think there's hardly impatience from a group willing to hit the reset again on this team after 7 years of whatever that was, to enter another rebuild. I think that's patience in a nutshell. I think there's lots of impatience for seeing this team continue to wander in the desert as the Oilers and Sabres have.
And I don't think you quit on this season, FWIW. Most moves can wait til the offseason, but if you want to keep Petey and Demko around, you're probably going to have to turn it around quicker than a fan calling for sweeping changes would like.
While I agree with you completely, trading multiple bodies for the future says that and more without the GM ever entering the dressing room. We are already a mentally fragile enough group as is...give them as long as you can before making final deadline decisions.
There are a few bodies that if you don't think you can re-sign, you trade them, no questions asked. However, showing a little belief in the core isn't a bad idea and that's what they are balancing right now. Its easy not to trust management after the last eight seasons but you have to think Rutherford has half a clue how a dressing room works in and out.
Now, that being said there's always the caveat that you can say to the room, if you'd like to not go through this you should have performed better. Or something of that ilk, I think saying that outright would be a mistake. And to be honest, I think Bruce probably already had has this speech. I think it would be a bit of a spit in the face to guys like Demko, Miller, Garland, Motte, etc. who have put together good seasons relative to expectations.
Obviously, the roster is loaded with players performing below their contracts. I don't fault them for that, that's something else entirely but this group can hardly win a regular game without having Demko put together an ace game. This team is relying on their goaltending to do the heavy lifting. The skaters look awful without the puck. Again, I don't entirely fault them for that, but you have to make changes somewhere. Why does the team as a whole wilt under pressure? Why do we mysteriously take long stretches of play where we can't execute a breakout or enter the zone? There are way too many questions that are often the same ones that pop up with this team that goes beyond execution and looks to me to be a mental thing. Is it learned complacency? I don't know. But all I can say is that they don't *look* like winners. When bounces aren't going our way, there should be at least 4-5 guys that want to do *something* effective on the game to make an impact. 4-5 guys who say "f*** this" and do something out of the ordinary for them.
I'm not saying it's leadership, I'm just saying that for whatever reason this team is fine playing a passive game. And the only ones who want to make an impact aren't the ones who can turn the game around. Sure, it's great to see Schenn, Hamonic, etc. get in a mood and play physical, but their skill set is not to get too involved between whistles, set up any play, it's to clean up their own zone and go relatively unnoticed. Which is great, good for them they are trying, but no one takes a cue from that. Like this team IS very soft, but not for a lack of physicality, it's a lack of wanting to be physical. No one wants to get their hands dirty unless they have the puck. It's quite uninspiring to watch. If nothing is going right, they shrink. If everything is going right, they get scared. That needs to change, and at some point you realize that as a manager, you have to make that happen.