Fantasy GM Thread | Heatwave Edition

[TruGr1t]

Outside of top players who picked up 2.5 and higher forwards with term

You could have moved salary last season. Would you have loved the return? No probably not, but you could have done it. I firmly believe there was a market for Myers, Garland and Miller. And I'm not convinced you couldn't have pulled some scraps out of Pearson without adding as well.

 

[andora]

You could have moved salary last season. Would you have loved the return? No probably not, but you could have done it. I firmly believe there was a market for Myers, Garland and Miller. And I'm not convinced you couldn't have pulled some scraps out of Pearson without adding as well.

Excluding Miller and Garland simply for the fact that they are useful and they help us quite a bit. What scenarios or teams or situations do you realistically see taking on those other two contracts.

For two additional years. I'm not trying to be argumentative or even aggressive but please give me an idea of where it's as simple as saying they could have moved salary last year and name these two guys. Who could have taken them on

 

[Hodgy]

Excluding Miller and Garland simply for the fact that they are useful and they help us quite a bit. What scenarios or teams or situations do you realistically see taking on those other two contracts.

For two additional years. I'm not trying to be argumentative or even aggressive but please give me an idea of where it's as simple as saying they could have moved salary last year and name these two guys. Who could have taken them on

When you look at the trade deadline transactions you don’t see lots of mediocre players being traded with term. Who would be a comparable to Pearson or Myers?

 

[604]

what could happen in the next two years that would warrant a complete tear down, honestly - what would justify blowing this up in two years and trading everyone off into the sun?

Going all-in by trading future assets for a RD and still not being good enough.

I think, with Miller, and a #1RD, this team may be good enough to compete. If there not, they will never be with this core.

Miller isn't replaceable with anything with have in the system. Giving big money to him and Horvat will erode any cap flexibility that will come.

We really should purge but we're too stubborn to, so we might as well sell futures so that we can really hit rock bottom.

 

[credulous]

what could happen in the next two years that would warrant a complete tear down, honestly - what would justify blowing this up in two years and trading everyone off into the sun?

if pettersson has another inconsistent year where he looks disinterested half the time, boeser continues to look one dimensional and oel continues to struggle to carry the puck i think you have to consider blowing up the team. any hope of the current core being good enough involves pettersson being one of the top 15 centers in the league and boeser being a legit star winger. if either of those things aren't true this lineup has serious problems. there's no potential star talent in the system and with demko and horvat and miller around they're not drafting high enough to acquire anyone likely to be an impact player in the next 3-4 seasons

 

[andora]

When you look at the trade deadline transactions you don’t see lots of mediocre players being traded with term. Who would be a comparable to Pearson or Myers?

i'm really not to sure of names - but here are a list of defencemen with 2 years left at between 5 and 7 million and age 27 and up

2. Tyler Myers	VAN	32	RD	Right	82	1	17	18	0.22	15	128	0.01	21:58	-	-	-	-	-	M-NTC	UFA	$6,000,000	$5,000,000
3. Jake Muzzin	TOR	33	LD	Left	47	3	11	14	0.30	-6	75	0.04	20:43	-	-	-	-	-	NTC	UFA	$5,625,000	$4,000,000
4. Alec Martinez	VGK	34	LD	Left	26	3	5	8	0.31	6	32	0.09	19:32	-	-	-	-	-	M-NTC	UFA	$5,250,000	$5,750,000
5. Brady Skjei	CAR	28	LD	Left	82	9	30	39	0.48	22	184	0.05	21:08	-	-	-	-	-	M-NTC	UFA	$5,250,000	$5,400,000
6. TJ Brodie	TOR	32	LD/RD	Left	82	4	24	28	0.34	20	68	0.06	21:18	-	-	-	-	-	NTC	UFA	$5,000,000	$5,000,000

for Pearson, here are same criteria 2 years left - between 3 and 4 million, ages 27 and up.

1. Nino Niederreiter	NSH	29	LW, RW	Left	75	24	20	44	0.59	29	144	0.17	14:50	-	-	-	-	-		UFA	$4,000,000	$4,000,000
2. Tanner Pearson	VAN	29	LW	Left	68	14	20	34	0.50	9	159	0.09	16:03	-	-	-	-	-	M-NTC	UFA	$3,250,000	$3,000,000
3. Zack Kassian	ARI	31	RW	Right	58	6	13	19	0.33	2	58	0.10	11:47	-	-	-	-	-		UFA	$3,200,000	$3,500,000
4. Jeff Carter	PIT	37	C, RW	Right	76	19	26	45	0.59	-8	200	0.10	17:40	-	-	-	-	-	NMC	UFA	$3,125,000	$3,250,000
5. Marcus Foligno	MIN	30	LW, RW	Left	74	23	19	42	0.57	25	98	0.23	16:24	-	-	-	-	-		UFA	$3,100,000	$3,100,000

 

[andora]

Going all-in by trading future assets for a RD and still not being good enough.

I think, with Miller, and a #1RD, this team may be good enough to compete. If there not, they will never be with this core.

Miller isn't replaceable with anything with have in the system. Giving big money to him and Horvat will erode any cap flexibility that will come.

We really should purge but we're too stubborn to, so we might as well sell futures so that we can really hit rock bottom.

So i don't understand why we would do that now. the goal has been stated to build up youth / use your draft picks / bring in more draft picks when you can. i get there are several perspectives right now but specifically going all in and trading anything future for win now probably makes the least sense / mentioned the least right now.

replacing miller and his point per game, no that will be tough. i believe they are banking on pettersson taking another step and taking THE offensive role from Miller. then, you run with horvat or miller (whomever stays) and they look at a center that can skate for the third line. there are some interesting names as free agents after this season (i am not advocating for any of them just presenting names) - haula / barbashev / blueger / kampf - then others that have experience - sundqvist / girgensons / eller)

some potential 1 year options for next year as again - the specific group to run with starting 24/25 develops.

what would you expect in trades for demko/hughes/pettersson and anyone else and potential suitors?

if pettersson has another inconsistent year where he looks disinterested half the time, boeser continues to look one dimensional and oel continues to struggle to carry the puck i think you have to consider blowing up the team. any hope of the current core being good enough involves pettersson being one of the top 15 centers in the league and boeser being a legit star winger. if either of those things aren't true this lineup has serious problems. there's no potential star talent in the system and with demko and horvat and miller around they're not drafting high enough to acquire anyone likely to be an impact player in the next 3-4 seasons

all potentially true - i hope pettersson does take the next step and i really hope that boeser feels a bit more fresh after the sheer horror he's gone through personally over the last while. there is a real potential for these players to be relieved coming back to the rink this year and eager to perform. there are so many individual motivation stories for some of these players it should be a very optimistic and 'happy' camp

this is a year of growth though and we must not lose sight of that, and i certainly wouldn't panic until the offseason after next if you're left with a bunch of young duds

 

[TruGr1t]

Excluding Miller and Garland simply for the fact that they are useful and they help us quite a bit. What scenarios or teams or situations do you realistically see taking on those other two contracts.

For two additional years. I'm not trying to be argumentative or even aggressive but please give me an idea of where it's as simple as saying they could have moved salary last year and name these two guys. Who could have taken them on

There's been smoke around Myers since last season. There was some buzz last year he was discussed, but his no-trade list didn't open up until this summer. It is possible he simply refused to be traded last year.

I still think you could have moved Pearson last year for a meager return and not much coming back. I have nothing concrete on it, I just don't see any reason you couldn't have moved him somewhere. The market did not truly seize up until recently.

 

[bossram]

i always liked marino - oddly enough he would be a fantastic partner for OEL. out of curiousity is bjorkstrand a personal preference due to style?

re: pearson - we cannot be sure something like that wasn't looked at - the 2 years left on the contract is what matters in my opinion.

re: rangers offer - so basically could live with it, which is fine. personally the value miller was providing the team in the playoff push and in theory this year for a playoff push is worth more to the team than that offer in my opinion. we just differ, that's all.


i think that is what i am getting at - if you have to go that deep in the micro numbers to find where potential player is better than what you have to bring him in, is the price point relative to the number worth it. who provides the most value relative to what we pay them, our guy or this new guy.

an yes - i agree it would be nice to have an extra 5 million or so cap space 'in case' one of these trades were to come up, it isn't where we are.

Re Bjorkstrand: He is just an objectively superior player to most of what we have. A two-way, 1st line player. Your understanding of the stats is not correct. It's not "deep in the mico numbers". RAPM and Isolated Impact are summations of a player's macro impact on the team, given the conditions he's played in. He has elite offensive and defensive impacts. The reason we don't have extra cap space to add the Marinos and Bjorkstrands when they appear is because management pre-allocated salary cap space elsewhere (Mikheyhev) and did not make much of an effort to clear cap space.

A key difference though is that Benning sold the farm and saddled us with future dead weight with bad players in order to squeak into the playoffs, I don't see any of those moves coming from Rutherford / Alvin.

I think / hope that they've got a clear vision to unload Miller and maybe more to clear up cap space and fix the RHD problem but they're not going to do bad moves just for the sake of doing them...in the meantime, where they can improve the team on reasonable deals they go ahead and do that, and yes, in the hope that we can compete for the playoffs, but they're not going all in just to make that happen.

I certainly think JR/Allvin are more competent than Benning, and they'll execute whatever "strategy" they have in mind more effectively than Benning could have. But a bad strategy is a bad strategy.

i should have just quoted this one - but i'm curious why is bjorkstrand 'better' than them. honestly asking, because i like bjorkstrand and i like the jackets. but i'm curious.

what has been out there to improve it? outside the marino deal with jersey which again, would have in parallel had us move rathbone in it (which is a different question) .. i haven't seen anything else out there that is viably improving the blue line. there were UFAs and thank god we didn't get any of who was available.

See above regarding Bjorkstrand. On the RD, it's the GM's job to improve. NJ made a move that improved their RD and perhaps Allvin could have been involved in that instead. Saying, "well no one else got better" is an excuse and isn't really true - CGY got Weegar as an afterthought.

Benning and his team wanted to get his players playoff exposure because playoff exposure in itself is huge for a player's development. Horvat 2015 and Demko 2020 are excellent examples of this. Benning and his team knew that the Canucks weren't an elite team. As far as JR/Alvin go, my guess is that they have a similar mindset for these next two seasons. Make the playoffs, maybe cause an upset and get into the 2nd round, get some playoff exposure for our young core that is now entering their primes. Two years from now, guys like Myers, Pearson, and Dickinson can be replaced with better value contracts which should help us take the next step. Poolman comes off the books a year later which gives us another opportunity to make better use of that money......and hence, giving us the opportunity to take yet another step.

Out of the guys currently on our roster, Podkolzin is the only guy that I can see becoming significantly better than he is now.......and so that in itself might be a needle mover.

And that playoff "development" propelled future Canucks teams to what? *Crickets*. The individual players were young and improving/already good anyway. I don't care about being cannon fodder in the first round of the playoffs. Build a contender. The "get in and anything can happen" is a bad strategy. Two years from now the ghosts of Benning will mostly be gone, but it'll also cost much more to re-sign the current non-contending core (Horvat, Miller or a replacement, Petterson, Podkolzin, Hoglander, all need raises). Regarding the bolded, that is a very bad scenario. They need a lot of guys to improve to become real contenders.

The Canucks did not go 'all in' for the playoffs in 2017-18, or 2018-19...They made no moves in those two seasons, that signal that..They did however go ' all in' in 2019 (Miller,Myers, Ferland).

JR/PA want the team to be competitive and make the playoffs this season...but not at the expense of 'win now' moves ..Their main focus is the big picture.

The team's direction, during the Benning years and now, has always been the same: Make the playoffs and hope for the best - do no try to take a step back for the benefit of future years. I do think Allvin/JR will execute this better than Benning. But it's still a bad plan.

 

[mriswith]

The team wasn't seriously selling at the deadline. Rutherford was pushing off calls from buyers in January and February and there's no indication they tried to build a market for anyone at the deadline other than maybe what they sold.

I'm still trying to reserve judgment on this group for many reasons, they deserve more time to put their stamp on the team and they're so tight-lipped we have almost no idea what almost happened and barely didn't.

However, criticisms of not moving players are coming mostly from people who were banging the drum to sell big last year asap. Management seemed to hesitate and waffle with what they wanted to do and now their job is magnitudes harder through inaction.

 

[andora]

There's been smoke around Myers since last season. There was some buzz last year he was discussed, but his no-trade list didn't open up until this summer. It is possible he simply refused to be traded last year.

I still think you could have moved Pearson last year for a meager return and not much coming back. I have nothing concrete on it, I just don't see any reason you couldn't have moved him somewhere. The market did not truly seize up until recently.

what i would find interesting and we will never know, but say they had a trade offer this past season, then this season, and in the following season how much different they would be. as the term decreases i can only assume the value increases.

regarding pearson - it would be interesting to look at any players in his price range with 2 years term remaining after the deal were moved

 

[TruGr1t]

what i would find interesting and we will never know, but say they had a trade offer this past season, then this season, and in the following season how much different they would be. as the term decreases i can only assume the value increases.

regarding pearson - it would be interesting to look at any players in his price range with 2 years term remaining after the deal were moved

I think it would have been very interesting if they'd been able to, totally hypothetically, move Myers and Pearson at any point before the deadline last year, and go into this summer with maneuverable cap space.

Given some of the deals that happened this summer, there could have well been some very creative things that could have been done to rather quickly re-tool the roster.

But that's probably too ambitious thinking. The rumor was they wanted to trade Myers to sign Klingberg, and then they'd probably have used the extra space to try to re-up Miller.

 

[theguardianII]

I think it would have been very interesting if they'd been able to, totally hypothetically, move Myers and Pearson at any point before the deadline last year, and go into this summer with maneuverable cap space.

Given some of the deals that happened this summer, there could have well been some very creative things that could have been done to rather quickly re-tool the roster.

But that's probably too ambitious thinking. The rumor was they wanted to trade Myers to sign Klingberg, and then they'd probably have used the extra space to try to re-up Miller.

Another rumour was NYI wanted Myers

 

[Tact]

Any thoughts on Anton Stralman?

74GP 8G 15A 23Pts -16 21:20 with bad Arizona team.

Cheap depth? RH shot too lol.

 

[oceanchild]

Some people have pride and the difference between $7.5m/yr and $8.5m/yr means less to them than the desire to win. People take less all the time to be in an advantageous situation.

Some people legitimately think that they will provide value for the entire contract. Some people also feel like a well managed team would be able to account for them and that it’s so hard to predict a winner in the NHL that the more optimal route is to get the guaranteed money, and hope for the right situation. What you suggests comes with no promises, maybe he is in a team that refuses to trade home because the contract is so good, but they suck, and he stays good but is stuck in a loser. It’s all just hopes and dreams… the cash though, that is contractually owed and gives you a buffer at the end to help you afford the mental health improvements required due to not having a chance to raise the cup. It lets you make sure your kids are cared for (and grandchildren and great grandchildren) which would make me much happier then a cup in a personal level.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Any thoughts on Anton Stralman?

74GP 8G 15A 23Pts -16 21:20 with bad Arizona team.

Cheap depth? RH shot too lol.

Wouldn't mind him on the cheap, but I heard not to expect as much out of him anymore.

 

[andora]

Re Bjorkstrand: He is just an objectively superior player to most of what we have. A two-way, 1st line player. Your understanding of the stats is not correct. It's not "deep in the mico numbers". RAPM and Isolated Impact are summations of a player's macro impact on the team, given the conditions he's played in. He has elite offensive and defensive impacts. The reason we don't have extra cap space to add the Marinos and Bjorkstrands when they appear is because management pre-allocated salary cap space elsewhere (Mikheyhev) and did not make much of an effort to clear cap space.

maybe poor choice of words, but i get what those are describing of the player. where my questions lie in terms of bringing these instances up in a trade talk and if the player is worth the trade to succeed on the team, both in value and if they are a specific upgrade.

these models are all fascinating in breaking down the player themselves, are there models that take into account teams' coaching/style systems. how can a player be compared and projected into a different team and its style. i mean granted yes, players that have positive results are likely to continue with positive results if they switch teams - but i'm curious about how this helps to determine what you have to pay versus the return on investment you will receive and if that ROI warrants moving something else you already have away. i think that's what i'm getting at.

i mean just as an off the cuff example - if you plop bjorkstrand on this team and have to take away garland (closish money) - is bjorkstrand's ROI worth the move .. versus what garland did while on this team.

See above regarding Bjorkstrand. On the RD, it's the GM's job to improve. NJ made a move that improved their RD and perhaps Allvin could have been involved in that instead. Saying, "well no one else got better" is an excuse and isn't really true - CGY got Weegar as an afterthought.

what if other teams don't like our guys as much as other teams guys. for all we know (and likely with rutherford/pittsburgh) we had an offer for marino but pittsburgh liked the other player better.

i agree though with the 'no one else got better' notion.

And that playoff "development" propelled future Canucks teams to what? *Crickets*. The individual players were young and improving/already good anyway. I don't care about being cannon fodder in the first round of the playoffs. Build a contender. The "get in and anything can happen" is a bad strategy. Two years from now the ghosts of Benning will mostly be gone, but it'll also cost much more to re-sign the current non-contending core (Horvat, Miller or a replacement, Petterson, Podkolzin, Hoglander, all need raises). Regarding the bolded, that is a very bad scenario. They need a lot of guys to improve to become real contenders.

while i tend to agree with not banking on 'anything can happen' - but the goal at this point should be making the playoffs consistently, within our situation that is a very reasonable first steps in building a contender within the confines of this organization.

yes those players will need raises, but a lot of money comes off in 2 years. you also have an outlet to move in garland. i mean in 2 years (not counting one of horvat or millers extension we have i think it's 35 or 36 million in space. hoglander will not be expensive and i can see podkolzin potentiall at a pearson like salary for a bridge.

the key is consistently churning/plugging the 4th line, 6/7 defence and backup goalie with million or less players that can contribute. it isn't easy, but not overpaying bottom guys IS easy. i do believe this management group understands that.

The team's direction, during the Benning years and now, has always been the same: Make the playoffs and hope for the best - do no try to take a step back for the benefit of future years. I do think Allvin/JR will execute this better than Benning. But it's still a bad plan.

i just don't think we are in a position this summer, this offseason coming out of benning to truly commit to one plan. you really need to see what this team is first, and that is this season.

i mean, if it goes rebuild, all our guys worth trading for other teams are young with tons of time left, i don't think 1 year kills anything but if it flips the other way and they are coached, bought in and challenge and get in you build off that.

i don't think i am necessarily disagreeing with you, i think overall i think all the one way or another debate is still premature.

 

[Ruthervin]

Re Bjorkstrand: He is just an objectively superior player to most of what we have. A two-way, 1st line player. Your understanding of the stats is not correct. It's not "deep in the mico numbers". RAPM and Isolated Impact are summations of a player's macro impact on the team, given the conditions he's played in. He has elite offensive and defensive impacts. The reason we don't have extra cap space to add the Marinos and Bjorkstrands when they appear is because management pre-allocated salary cap space elsewhere (Mikheyhev) and did not make much of an effort to clear cap space.

I certainly think JR/Allvin are more competent than Benning, and they'll execute whatever "strategy" they have in mind more effectively than Benning could have. But a bad strategy is a bad strategy.

See above regarding Bjorkstrand. On the RD, it's the GM's job to improve. NJ made a move that improved their RD and perhaps Allvin could have been involved in that instead. Saying, "well no one else got better" is an excuse and isn't really true - CGY got Weegar as an afterthought.

And that playoff "development" propelled future Canucks teams to what? *Crickets*. The individual players were young and improving/already good anyway. I don't care about being cannon fodder in the first round of the playoffs. Build a contender. The "get in and anything can happen" is a bad strategy. Two years from now the ghosts of Benning will mostly be gone, but it'll also cost much more to re-sign the current non-contending core (Horvat, Miller or a replacement, Petterson, Podkolzin, Hoglander, all need raises). Regarding the bolded, that is a very bad scenario. They need a lot of guys to improve to become real contenders.

The team's direction, during the Benning years and now, has always been the same: Make the playoffs and hope for the best - do no try to take a step back for the benefit of future years. I do think Allvin/JR will execute this better than Benning. But it's still a bad plan.

That playoff development help saw both Horvat and Demko elevate their games to new levels in both 2015 and 2020 respectively. Pettersson also showed significant signs of being a clutch player come playoff time. Playoff experience in general is crucial to a young players' development. Even if a team is rebuilding, it should be considered important to try and get your developing team into the playoffs for experiential and devleopmental purposes.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

That playoff development help saw both Horvat and Demko elevate their games to new levels in both 2015 and 2020 respectively. Pettersson also showed significant signs of being a clutch player come playoff time. Playoff experience in general is crucial to a young players' development. Even if a team is rebuilding, it should be considered important to try and get your developing team into the playoffs for experiential and devleopmental purposes.

Even though it was a couple of years ago that Demko, Hughes and EP raised their games in the 2020 playoffs..It does stand for something...They've been there, and they know what it takes.

Chewing through the best part of yourr career without any post season play whatsoever must be galling, and generally breeds discontent (Eichel and the Sabres).

 

[Ruthervin]

Even though it was a couple of years ago that Demko, Hughes and EP raised their games in the 2020 playoffs..It does stand for something...They've been there, and they know what it takes.

Chewing through the best part of yourr career without any post season play whatsoever must be galling, and generally breeds discontent (Eichel and the Sabres).

Yep, you nailed it.

 

[Tact]

Wouldn't mind him on the cheap, but I heard not to expect as much out of him anymore.

Yeah I haven’t really followed him last few years. Sure that’s fine - as long as he’s able to take some minutes away from Myers and Schenn on the RS - it’s a win id say.

 

[Canucker]

Some people legitimately think that they will provide value for the entire contract. Some people also feel like a well managed team would be able to account for them and that it’s so hard to predict a winner in the NHL that the more optimal route is to get the guaranteed money, and hope for the right situation. What you suggests comes with no promises, maybe he is in a team that refuses to trade home because the contract is so good, but they suck, and he stays good but is stuck in a loser. It’s all just hopes and dreams… the cash though, that is contractually owed and gives you a buffer at the end to help you afford the mental health improvements required due to not having a chance to raise the cup. It lets you make sure your kids are cared for (and grandchildren and great grandchildren) which would make me much happier then a cup in a personal level.

I get what you're saying and most of the time I think you'd be correct...but there are plenty of instances where players have taken a slight "haircut" on their salary to play in an advantageous situation...be that closer to home/family, on a winning organization, etc...i wouldn't speak for anyone else, but for me, if i were offered an 8 yr contract for $64m from a team like say the NYI (or plenty of other teams), and I was offered an 8 yr contract for $60m from the Canucks...I would sign with Vancouver, I have a connection to the team, family is close, its a beautiful city that matches my life closer than that of some giant east coast metropolis...I think I'd still be able to adequately take care of my kids with $60m, and if my great grandchildren needed me to earn that extra $4m, f*** them go get a job. lol

 

[TruGr1t]

Update from Drance and Dhaliwal on Miller and Horvat. It is Athletic paywall so I will summarize:

Miller: Nothing has really changed. "Good chance" Miller and his agent will cut-off negotiations heading into the season. "The notion of a start-of-the-regular-season deadline to get a deal done with Miller or have contract talks cease for the duration of the campaign doesn’t really change the dynamic of talks from Vancouver’s perspective."

Horvat: "Sense we got in asking around this week was that there was perhaps somewhat less optimism than there had been in late June, but both sides of the negotiation declined to comment on or off record and are playing this one close to the vest for now."

Reality continues to dawn on new management.

They're also out of the running for Evan Rodrigues because they can't afford him.

 

[Vector]

There's a new The Athletic article from Drance and Dhaliwal that focuses on the Canucks and Miller. Here's a few quotes.

"At least the club is far from satisfied, internally, with where they stand going into this season."

"Privately, meanwhile, the Canucks continue to insist that retaining Miller is their preference."

On Bo Horvat..."both sides of the negotiation declined to comment on or off record and are playing this one close to the vest for now."

"Canucks checked in on unrestricted free agent forward Evan Rodrigues, for example, but that ultimately they’re not among the teams still in the bidding."

"There is some interest in DiPietro, but the market for goaltenders without significant NHL track records isn’t exactly a robust one." and "There is some interest in DiPietro, but the market for goaltenders without significant NHL track records isn’t exactly a robust one."

And about how the coaching staff will work together:

"Mike Yeo will run the club’s penalty kill directly, with Trent Cull assisting him in that endeavour rather than running it outright as the club initially planned after the hires were announced. Jason King, of course, will continue to be responsible for the power play, with Boudreau being heavily involved in the club’s five-on-four game planning."

There's a lot of little tidbits so if you have a subscription, give it a read. Otherwise it's just a small update with a month to go before training camp.

 

[bossram]

That playoff development help saw both Horvat and Demko elevate their games to new levels in both 2015 and 2020 respectively. Pettersson also showed significant signs of being a clutch player come playoff time. Playoff experience in general is crucial to a young players' development. Even if a team is rebuilding, it should be considered important to try and get your developing team into the playoffs for experiential and devleopmental purposes.

And had Benning not been an utterly incompetent GM, the team could've been a perennial playoff team. Think of how much playoff development time the young guys could have had then!

Sure, making the playoffs is nice for the guys on the roster. But the goal isn't to make the playoffs once and miss for five seasons. Build an actually good team, and this "playoffs development" will occur naturally. If trying to scrape into the playoffs comes at the expense of building a legitimate contender, then the organization is on the wrong path. Full stop.