People are really underestimating what kind of long term effect a season continued like this can have. I don’t understand how people can be happy with leaving Carlyle in and watching this **** whether it means we get a top 3 draft pick or not, which is no guarantee anyways no matter where we finish with the current lottery format. It’s one thing to suck but I can only imagine how bad things are getting in that locker room. If they switched coaches right now they would probably still get a decent pick and may even have a strong end to the season, which contrary to popular belief, is not a completely bad thing even if they miss the playoffs because it goes a long way for next season
In my mind, this is the strongest argument for firing Carlyle now, though I'm not sold on it. Is this season and the awful play likely to create a losing culture and bad locker room going forward (see Edmonton)? I don't think it is given the fact that Getzlaf, Kesler, and others won't accept that standard. But it is a risk.
And for those of you who (in different posts) are suggesting that Carlyle should quit, that is just silly and antithetical to what any professional athlete or coach will do. It is not about the money - I'm sure the ducks would still pay him. The only thing worse than being a bad coach/loser is being a quitter.
I'm not pleased with the team's play or the record this season, but I'm a bit surprised by the board's reaction to it. A meltdown like this was inevitable - it happens to all teams. Look at LA, Chicago (last year and this one), Detroit, San Jose (a few years back), St. Louis, Boston (a few years ago) and others. The reality is that the ducks have had a better run than most of those teams (only LA, Boston and Chicago won cups). All of those runs end with a few bad season when the core is old and overpaid. It will happen to other teams as well (Pittsburgh and Washington come to mind). Its not a question of ownership's willingness to spend (though that was an issue when the team was in its window). It is the result of the current cap and CBA structure.
The key is to limit the down years and quickly retool. The question is whether BM is the right guy to to that - we know RC isn't but we also know he'll be gone soon enough. Hyperventilating over RC for the next few months is missing the bigger picture.
We also know that BM just signed an extension, so he'll be around for a few more years at least. The next 18 months will show us whether he's up to the job.
And just to be clear, I expect next year to be better, but not necessarily a playoff year. Definitely not a cup contending team but the on-ice product will be better. This team is 2-3 years away from taking a big step forward. For fans to threaten to cancel season tickets, etc., during that period is, in my opinion, shortsighted and silly.