"Rebuilding" is infecting sports

[Stonewall]

Yesterday the Rangers made a trade they shouldn't have made - two solid players, one arguably a star, and they got a minimal return from Tampa - in the name of "rebuilding".

The NHL needs to find a way to reward bubble teams who may or may not make the playoffs and probably won't win it all. There has to be a way to stop this rebuilding trend that has been infecting baseball and basketball and is now infecting hockey too.

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[Soundgarden]

Why? If your team has no chance at winning the cup and you have valuable players that can get assets to start over, why not do it?

Why does the NHL need to reward bubble teams? Their reward is semi-competent management.

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

33% of NHL teams are secretly rebuilding for that 1 Stanley Cup; good chance they all fail; has always been this way.

 

[Moon Knight]

33% of NHL teams are secretly rebuilding for that 1 Stanley Cup; good chance they all fail; has always been this way.

Exactly. There's a right way to rebuild, (Bruins, TB, Toronto, etc) and then there's an extremely painful, eternal rebuild. Most rebuilding teams seem to fall under the latter.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

To win, you need to draft the Crosby/Malkins, Kane/Toews, Kopitar/Doughtys. And to draft those guys, you need to sell your players so you can recoup assets and 'tank'.

The Rangers got to the point where they weren't going anywhere with the core and the right thing to do was blow it up and try again.

 

[Stonewall]

Having a third of the teams in the league terrible and trying to win later is bad for the league. Obviously the top third teams have their own reward, but the middle third teams are left out because they aren't good enough to win (at least not consistently) and they aren't bad enough to get franchise players in the draft unless they are lucky.

The draft lottery definitely helps, but what about a team like the Wild or Blues who are good enough to make the playoffs every season, but not good enough to win anything?

 

[Doctor No]

Yesterday the Rangers made a trade they shouldn't have made - two solid players, one arguably a star, and they got a minimal return from Tampa - in the name of "rebuilding".

The NHL needs to find a way to reward bubble teams who may or may not make the playoffs and probably won't win it all. There has to be a way to stop this rebuilding trend that has been infecting baseball and basketball and is now infecting hockey too.

So propose something, then.

Rebuilding is a natural consequence of professional sports leagues.

Of course, your own post contradicts itself - if the Rangers received a "minimal return" from Tampa, then wouldn't that keep them from wanting to do this? Clearly, the value there is enough to make it work, or teams wouldn't do it.

 

[Machinehead]

I do think rebuilding is overvalued. I agree with the premise. But you are ignoring a few things

-The Rangers are bringing back NHL talent as part of the returns and they don't see this as a very long project. (we'll see)
-They got fantastic returns in their other trades.
-The Rangers org totally soured on Miller and he was practically a throw-in from our perspective. Not saying he can't be good for Tampa, but we had zero interest in keeping him. He'd be gone even if we were Cup contenders.

Also, rebuilding sucks. Like, the Rangers have been unwatchable for two years and it makes me miserable. People need to stop seeing this as a "reward."

 

[Oilslick941611]

Why? If your team has no chance at winning the cup and you have valuable players that can get assets to start over, why not do it?

Why does the NHL need to reward bubble teams? Their reward is semi-competent management.

because most of the times the assets that come back don't make a difference for a few years. it also shows a losing attitude, which infects organizations and fan bases and they expect after a few years they will star winning like its as easy as a flip of the switch.

rebuilds fail more than they work out.

 

[Teemu]

If all that matter is that your favorite team is competitive every single year, perhaps try college sports.

 

[MMC]

Rebuilding is ONLY worth it if you have a terrible prospect pool. If you have young players ready to step in and your old core isn’t getting it done, it’s better to just retool and let your young core phase themselves in, damning yourself to awful seasons in hopes of contending eventually almost never pans out.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

because most of the times the assets that come back don't make a difference for a few years. it also shows a losing attitude, which infects organizations and fan bases and they expect after a few years they will star winning like its as easy as a flip of the switch.

rebuilds fail more than they work out.

What was the culture like in Chicago and Pittsburgh before they got their lottery picks? What was the culture like in those places from 2008-20017?

The idea of a "winning" or "losing" culture is terribly overblown. Teams that perpetually fail because management fails. It isn't because they have the right guys but they "lost too much" to get them.

 

[tarheelhockey]

No matter what you do, there will always be an incentive to strip away players who aren’t part of the long term plan.

 

[YEM]

it's just a rebranding to soften the blow toward the fans/customers
in some cases, it can brainwash an entire fanbase [philly 76ers]
& it can certainly make sense

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Rebuilding is ONLY worth it if you have a terrible prospect pool. If you have young players ready to step in and your old core isn’t getting it done, it’s better to just retool and let your young core phase themselves in, damning yourself to awful seasons in hopes of contending eventually almost never pans out.

Tell that to the Penguins in 1984... Or 2005...

But no, in all actuality, Pittsburgh has been incredibly blessed that our tanks have coincided with insanely good generational talent. Not everyone can do what Pittsburgh has done because not everyone has Mario Lemieux/Jagr or Sidney Crosby/Malkin to draft after their tank.

 

[Aladyyn]

Sports fans are obsessed with "future" and it's a lot easier to sell them on something intangible 5 years from now than ever before. Look at how people rip moves like the Oshie contract because of "future" even though it helps the team compete during their window.

 

[EpicGingy]

Having a third of the teams in the league terrible and trying to win later is bad for the league. Obviously the top third teams have their own reward, but the middle third teams are left out because they aren't good enough to win (at least not consistently) and they aren't bad enough to get franchise players in the draft unless they are lucky.

The draft lottery definitely helps, but what about a team like the Wild or Blues who are good enough to make the playoffs every season, but not good enough to win anything?

Why is their inability to build a team capable of going all the way the NHL's problem?

There's always going to be great teams and there's always going to be terrible teams. Naturally, there'll be some teams in the middle. That's the way it is. You're asking for a solution to an imaginary problem that can't be solved anyways.

 

[Sevren]

Exactly. There's a right way to rebuild, (Bruins, TB, Toronto, etc) and then there's an extremely painful, eternal rebuild. Most rebuilding teams seem to fall under the latter.

The Bruins never rebuilt, only retooled.

 

[JackFr]

Personally, I think it's great that guys like Nash and McDonagh are going to be playing for playoff contenders instead of golfing. Rebuilding means an exciting trade deadline and more great players in the playoffs.

 

[StoneHands]

Yesterday the Rangers made a trade they shouldn't have made - two solid players, one arguably a star, and they got a minimal return from Tampa - in the name of "rebuilding".

The NHL needs to find a way to reward bubble teams who may or may not make the playoffs and probably won't win it all. There has to be a way to stop this rebuilding trend that has been infecting baseball and basketball and is now infecting hockey too.

The Flyers were a bubble team last year and were only a few points out of the playoffs with like 5 games left. They didn't tank or trade everyone at the deadline for a rebuild and the current system awarded them the 2nd overall pick only to have every other team's fanbase pissed off about it. Rewarding bubble teams pisses off people off and rewarding teams who finish last pisses everyone off. The NHL can't make everyone happy.

 

[TOGuy14]

The rebuilding craze is a result of a hard salary cap.

In the past teams like the Rangers would just spend their way through adversity, now you need to draft talented players on ELCs to compete. If you don't like the blow it up and draft model, then you should protest the hard cap as well.

 

[thegongshow]

1st overall pick should be given to the #1 team that doesn't make the playoffs. That would encourage teams to stay competitive, make trades and build. The absolute worst is being caught in mediocrity hell. You can't make a run in the playoffs, or just miss the playoffs every year and still get a crappy pick in the 10-20 range.

 

[Bank Shot]

Exactly. There's a right way to rebuild, (Bruins, TB, Toronto, etc) and then there's an extremely painful, eternal rebuild. Most rebuilding teams seem to fall under the latter.

Tampa just missed the playoffs last year. They finished bottom five like 6 out of a 7 year stretch.

Toronto hauled in top ten picks for basically a decade.

Seems like you are saying that the best way to rebuild is to suck, and suck hard for as long as it takes to luck into some great talent.

 

[MR4]

So you want teams to intentionally toil in mediocrity for your viewing pleasure? Just don't watch your team if they're tanking and it's that big of a deal to you, but rebuilds are a proven way to get back to the top

 

[These Are The Days]

It was about 11 years ago the Lightning lost pretty much everyone but St. Louis and Lecavalier and fast-forward 11 years we stand as a good a chance as anyone to win it all.

There's nothing wrong with rebuilding. It works. What are teams supposed to do? Hang on for dear life and just pray the lottery balls pick you to go from 9th overall to 1st? That's horseshit if I ever saw it. Teams like Buffalo and Arizona can't rebuild because they don't have enough talent.