Look, I'm as disappointed as anyone with how yesterday went down and with how the past few years have went, but still looking at the big picture of where we stand right now I'm not as down on Holland as most are. The positives start with the fact that we have traded only one top prospect over the past 6 years. So everyone we have said no to trading because we were to high on them is here and is NHL ready or is very close to it. Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Pulkkinen, Sheahan, Sproul, Oullett, Mrazek, etc are all still here and can, potentially be the future faces of this franchise. If they continue progressing like they have, we do have legit talent here. It also means, especially at forward, we have pieces to trade, as there are too many players for too few spots.
We also don't have many bad contracts anymore. Other than Franzen and, maybe, Zetterberg we aren't looking at any real albatross contracts. Which means we are in a very good place cap wise. If our prospects continue to progress next year and our vets stay healthy, I still think we will have a solid team next year and if we can make a little run, we should be looked at more seriously by free agents. There is just a lot of uncertainty right now with where we are trending.
Does that mean Holland doesn't need to change his tactics and adjust? Absolutely not. But he hasn't left us in a god awful position going forward here. He hasn't even left us in a bad position. We have a team, with our current roster, that can still contend to make the playoffs and there is a lot of time yet to make roster. Ives to improve us into more of a cup contender.