This team's identity is "our best players are better than your best players". There is nothing in their DNA about hard work, overcoming challenges, or achievement. They have enough pride to want to beat top teams in yardstick games, but a single game is about all the peak that they can ever manage. There is no leadership to be seen from anyone other than Rielly.
After years of going all in, our assets are all but gone. We've got the big guns, Rielly, and tiny handful of promising youngsters. We don't have goaltending, our defense is atrocious, and we don't have a stable of quality depth forward signed to term. The teams of yesteryear were really quite good, but we've bled off so many assets on failed playoff runs that this roster is a shell of its former self.
So no, this is not a serious team. Our core players are not serious about winning and we do not have the roster or organizational depth to be considered legitimate contenders. We were once, but not this year. It's time to retool.