How will we know the rebuild is over?

[LaymanX]

In a bit of a grim epiphany, I realized today that I'll be cheering for the Leafs to lose for roughly the next 2 years and started thinking to myself.. when am I going to cheer for them to win again?

When will we know this rebuild is over and that we're committed to icing a competitive team again?

When we have a definitive 1C, 1D and 1G? How do we know these youngsters won't be a flash in the pan? What types of metrics would qualify them as a 1C, etc etc beyond the vague ranking on Hockey's Future?

When we stumble into the playoffs again?

When we start beating winning teams consistently with the advanced stats to back it up?

Your thoughts?

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[LV*]

The team will be good

 

[Bluejaysfan*]

I'd say probably after a couple years, we'll ideally be where Calgary is now. Young, hard-working team with great veterans sprinkled in holding down a playoff spot (wild card) and a great coach behind the bench. Not to mention still having top draft prospects from the rebuild developing in the minors till they're ready. Rielly will probably be an established #1 or top pairing D-man by then, Nylander will have had a season under his belt ala Monohan.

 

[MR4]

2 consecutive playoff berths is when I'll consider it fully done.

 

[Erdinger]

I think it ended tonight. How can management break this group of winners up?

 

[Territory]

Rebuild is done when the team is good.

 

[Preisst*]

Just keep hoping for them to lose. When you find it comfortable enough for you, the bandwagon will be there for you to jump on.

In the meantime there will be others doing all the work so you don't have to worry about that.

See you whenever.

 

[Pucker77]

I always considered the start of a rebuild as when a team misses the playoffs two years in a row. If they are usually in the playoff mix and then miss the playoffs it could just be a fluke year and they make it the next season. However, if a teams struggles 2 seasons in a row they usually decide to blow it up and start over.

On the other side, I would guess for me to say the rebuild is over the team would have to make back-to-back playoff appearances for the same reasons as determining rebuilders. The team could have a magical year ala 2013-2014 Colorado Avalanche but miss (and possibly struggle) the next. So the team would have to be a competitive playoff team for 2 consecutive seasons to be labeled as a playoff contender as opposed to a rebuilder.

Hopefully thats in 3-4 years. As long as the next couple drafts work out the Leafs could get their "trifecta" as I call it in a #1 C(Strome? Matthews?), D(Rielly?Chychrun?), and G(Bernier? Bibeau?). Getting the trifecta and then using the rest of our picks to provide cheap depth (Brown, Percy, Gauthier, Finn, Gardiner, etc) around those players can really speed up the process.

With that said, I will never cheer for the Leafs to lose like mentioned in the OP. I will always root for them to win, but not be upset with losses because of the general expectations for the team. Nobody can argue that there is talent on this team, more than their bottom-dwelling counterparts at least. However they dont have great depth and too many large contracts. I dont think this rebuild will be as bad as Edmontons or possibly even Buffalos. If the Leafs can "cut off the arm to save the body" it might change everything.

 

[Grant]

Even during rebuilds you want the young core players to play well and continue to develop (people like Rielly and Kadri) even if you want the team to lose. There will come a time during the rebuild that in order to continue the young players development they need to lead their team to victory on a consistent basis. That is when the rebuild will finally be over.

 

[Bill Waters*]

Cups

 

[HEAVY DUTY]

When we make the playoffs at least 3 years in a row and continue to do so in the years after and that's when I'll consider it to be over. If a team cannot make the playoffs for more than two years in a row, it will be considered a fluke or an inproper rebuild IMO.

Also only when a team wins a cup will it be considered a successful rebuild.

 

[Todd Skill]

The day we bring Burkie back

 

[HoweHullOrr]

In a bit of a grim epiphany, I realized today that I'll be cheering for the Leafs to lose for roughly the next 2 years and started thinking to myself.. when am I going to cheer for them to win again?

When will we know this rebuild is over and that we're committed to icing a competitive team again?

When we have a definitive 1C, 1D and 1G? How do we know these youngsters won't be a flash in the pan? What types of metrics would qualify them as a 1C, etc etc beyond the vague ranking on Hockey's Future?

When we stumble into the playoffs again?

When we start beating winning teams consistently with the advanced stats to back it up?

Your thoughts?

2 years? That would be a real quick rebuild if it took only 2 years.

I think we could say that the rebuild has taken root when we win at least one playoff round in two consecutive playoffs years (or over a short span of years). Even then, the bar may be set fairly low, but I would say that is the minimum.

 

[A1LeafNation]

When we have these slots filled:

JVR _______ Nylander
____ Kadri


Rielly _______


Bernier


Head Coach: ________

We have a lot of pieces at our disposal but that #1C and that Top Pair RD is going to be hard to find: Could take 1 year could take 5.

Phaneuf, Bozak, Kessel, Lupul, Gardiner, Reimer, etc.

 

[SprDaVE]

Once the team is consistently good for more then just a few weeks?

 

[1Gold Standard]

check back in 5-7 years... you'll know when you know.

 

[Mess]

A rebuild is never done.

A team is consistently drafting players, signing players and trading players year after year even after they win Stanley Cups.

The goal is to be perpetually Cup competitive.

 

[Suntouchable13]

You'll just know. When you look at the talent of this team and think that they should at least be pushing for a playoff spot. That's when you'll know to start cheering for them to win again

 

[Trainspotter]

How will you know it's started?

 

[Commander Clueless]

I think the easiest solution is to just cheer for them to win, and if/when they don't, look forward to the draft.


Eventually they might accidently tank themselves out of the basement. Eventually. Maybe.

 

[LaymanX]

I'd say probably after a couple years, we'll ideally be where Calgary is now. Young, hard-working team with great veterans sprinkled in holding down a playoff spot (wild card) and a great coach behind the bench. Not to mention still having top draft prospects from the rebuild developing in the minors till they're ready. Rielly will probably be an established #1 or top pairing D-man by then, Nylander will have had a season under his belt ala Monohan.

I'm not convinced Calgary is the franchise to model ourselves after. They're sporting a stellar CF% of 44.8, third last in the league. Even the Leafs are slightly ahead at 46.6

Most pundits have already identified Calgary as the next Colorado Avs and have them prime targets of regression for next season.

 

[Mess]

I'm not convinced Calgary is the franchise to model ourselves after. They're sporting a stellar CF% of 44.8, third last in the league. Even the Leafs are slightly ahead at 46.6

Most pundits have already identified Calgary as the next Colorado Avs and have them prime targets of regression for next season.

Detroit is the model of a successful rebuild and its resulted in 24 straight playoff appearance and counting and that is because your never done and constantly striving to get better and continuously drafting, developing talent to fuel the NHL team.

So there is no set completion date for any team so your thread question has no definitive answer because a team continues to evolve year after year.

 

[LaymanX]

Detroit is the model of a successful rebuild and its resulted in 24 straight playoff appearance and counting and that is because your never done and constantly striving to get better and continuously drafting, developing talent to fuel the NHL team.

So there is no set completion date for any team so your thread question has no definitive answer because a team continues to evolve year after year.

AFAIK Detroit has never stripped the team down to the studs and done a proper rebuild in the post cap era, so I'm inclined to say that they're not a valid comparison.

Teams like Chicago, LA, Pittsburgh are closer to what we're aiming for I think.

Someone mentioned that when the team's "good" and should be able to compete for a Cup, that's when the rebuild is over. That's actually what I believe too, but I just don't know how to quantify this.

 

[egd27]

AFAIK Detroit has never stripped the team down to the studs and done a proper rebuild in the post cap era, so I'm inclined to say that they're not a valid comparison.

Teams like Chicago, LA, Pittsburgh are closer to what we're aiming for I think.

Someone mentioned that when the team's "good" and should be able to compete for a Cup, that's when the rebuild is over. That's actually what I believe too, but I just don't know how to quantify this.

When there are 5-7 core players that the majority of fans don't want to ship out for the sake of getting rid of them?

 

[legendinblue]

Assuming they commit to a full-blown rebuild it's gonna take a while. Three years is the shortest you could hope for, but I'm not sure that's very realistic. Fans who expect this to be over in a year or two are kidding themselves.

Be patient. It's not like you are forced to watch Leafs losing game after game; tune in once in awhile and in the meantime watch the good teams play - an easy solution.