The most desolate franchise
- Thread starter barabas21
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barabas21
Registered User
- Mar 9, 2016
- 294
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Old, declining team. No 1st round pick this year. Not a great prospect pool. No goaltending. Their future is not very good.
You guys have lots of high picks this upcoming draft and valuable vets to sell off at the TDL and you have Formenton and Batherson so it's not like your pipeline is completely dry.
I agree with Sharks... their pipeline is bone dry and they've shipped off too many picks.
lawrence
Registered User
- May 19, 2012
- 15,970
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Neutral fan here..
the sens trading a 1st rounder for Duchene was a gamble gone wrong. They were 1 win away from a Stanley cup final and they made a play to further improve the team to take that next step as a true contender, which was the right thing to do. this was at the end of the 2017 season. Being one of the best teams in the NHL after that no one would predict they will do that bad in 2018 they got Tkachuk in 2018, had to give up their 4th pick to Colorado unfortunately, which is bad for the senators, since they were suppose to be a playoff team as per the 2017 season. Josh Norris is looking pretty damn good, but its looking like they might have 2 top 10 picks in 2020, so they have something to cheer for but not until after the 2020 draft.
tmurfin
That’s the joke
- May 8, 2010
- 11,243
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I don’t think it gets much worst than the Sens. Not even talking player/prospect wise. You can draft high level players, you can fire GM’s and coaches, but you can’t fire a shitty cheap owner.
not to mention all of the awful contacts they have
CheckingLineCenter
Registered User
- Aug 10, 2018
- 8,318
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Sabres seem kind of stuck.
Hope they can figure it out. What a hockey market.
Hope they can figure it out. What a hockey market.
7even
Offered and lost
Gonna put on my hipster hat and say Montreal. The team has no identity or direction, and the Bergevin + Molsons combo is perhaps the most generally ineffective and meandering GM + owner combo in the league. I think Bergevin is closer to sleepwalking into an actual plan than coming up with one himself, and the Molsons seem to have confused the 2007-2013 Toronto Maple Leafs with a well run organization.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
It really depends on what you are factoring in.
I'll say its Ottawa for a couple of smaller reasons which I'll start with, and then get to the major one. Firstly, the Senators really only have two pieces on the current roster, which is Tkachuk and Chabot. Past that, everything else is pretty replaceable or aging. Guys like Brown and Pageau have impressive numbers given their track record, but they are getting an abundance of ice-time not making their stats particularly efficent. They have some nice prospects in the NHL/AHL bubble-like Batherson, Norris, and Brannstrom, but I wouldn't call either a clear blue-chip to build around. Finally, they have two likely top 10 picks, which need to be converted on, because as pointed out in the first point, they lack core pieces, primarily a 1st and 2nd line center (although, maybe Norris fills one of these roles).
On paper that isn't terrible, you can argue other teams are in worse shape when it comes to that stuff such as Detroit, or a team is capped out with an struggling aging team such as SJ, a team that has had promising starts turn into terrible 2nd halves like Buffalo or a team like Minnesota who lack exciting young core pieces on the roster. At the end of the day, it comes down to the elephent in the room. Which is, Eugene Melnyk. There are bad owners who seem clueless (like the Pegula's, Katz, Aquellini), and then there is the Eugene Melnyk level of dysfunctional ownership. He manages to botch getting a heavily subsidized stadium, he is getting sued from multiple angles for not paying debts, and is just in general has a reputation for being a pretty sleazy person. Would I rank Ottawa last if they got new ownership tomorrow? Probably not. But, given how stubborn Melnyk is, he's going to drive this team to the bottom before he is somehow forced to sell either by going broke or finally doing something to piss the league off enough. Yeah, where teams like Detroit, SJ, and Minnesota are isn't great, but they at least appear to have somewhat competent ownership (especially SJ), and while the Pegula's running of the Sabres has been bad, I don't get the impression if they ever luck into the proper hire for that team that there actions will actively undermine the team (see the Bills and McDermott). Whereas Melnyk's cheapness and interventionist ways are sure to undermine Ottawa at some point.
I do think MTL could be in trouble. They define directionless right now, and as the francophone population continues to diminish, they are just further handicapping themselves by their outdated rules. I mean, Gallant gets fired and half of Habs nation is googling if he can speak French. Now that Briesbois has been promoted, who is the best french-speaking candidate for GM?
I'll say its Ottawa for a couple of smaller reasons which I'll start with, and then get to the major one. Firstly, the Senators really only have two pieces on the current roster, which is Tkachuk and Chabot. Past that, everything else is pretty replaceable or aging. Guys like Brown and Pageau have impressive numbers given their track record, but they are getting an abundance of ice-time not making their stats particularly efficent. They have some nice prospects in the NHL/AHL bubble-like Batherson, Norris, and Brannstrom, but I wouldn't call either a clear blue-chip to build around. Finally, they have two likely top 10 picks, which need to be converted on, because as pointed out in the first point, they lack core pieces, primarily a 1st and 2nd line center (although, maybe Norris fills one of these roles).
On paper that isn't terrible, you can argue other teams are in worse shape when it comes to that stuff such as Detroit, or a team is capped out with an struggling aging team such as SJ, a team that has had promising starts turn into terrible 2nd halves like Buffalo or a team like Minnesota who lack exciting young core pieces on the roster. At the end of the day, it comes down to the elephent in the room. Which is, Eugene Melnyk. There are bad owners who seem clueless (like the Pegula's, Katz, Aquellini), and then there is the Eugene Melnyk level of dysfunctional ownership. He manages to botch getting a heavily subsidized stadium, he is getting sued from multiple angles for not paying debts, and is just in general has a reputation for being a pretty sleazy person. Would I rank Ottawa last if they got new ownership tomorrow? Probably not. But, given how stubborn Melnyk is, he's going to drive this team to the bottom before he is somehow forced to sell either by going broke or finally doing something to piss the league off enough. Yeah, where teams like Detroit, SJ, and Minnesota are isn't great, but they at least appear to have somewhat competent ownership (especially SJ), and while the Pegula's running of the Sabres has been bad, I don't get the impression if they ever luck into the proper hire for that team that there actions will actively undermine the team (see the Bills and McDermott). Whereas Melnyk's cheapness and interventionist ways are sure to undermine Ottawa at some point.
I do think MTL could be in trouble. They define directionless right now, and as the francophone population continues to diminish, they are just further handicapping themselves by their outdated rules. I mean, Gallant gets fired and half of Habs nation is googling if he can speak French. Now that Briesbois has been promoted, who is the best french-speaking candidate for GM?
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The owner just refuses to pay for talent. Needs to sell
Ottawa will be fine as their prospects and picks pan out, but an owner who wont keep talent is concerning
Zaddy
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2013
- 13,058
- 5,850
I mean, having a #1D signed long-term isn't a bad place to start. That's what every rebuilding team dreams about. Player-wise the Sens have a great foundation to build on. You have two stars in Tkachuk and Chabot and a bunch of secondary guys who are promising like Brännström etc, some good pieces on the roster which should fetch them a nice haul at the deadline and then to top it all off they have two likely top10 picks. Not a bad place to be at all. And obviously if they win the lottery with one of those picks and gets Lafreniere and, say, Drysdale with the other pick...they're looking really good.
Of course you can argue Ottawa being in the worst shape due to their owner, but just in terms of the sports side of things there are many teams that are in a much darker place.
Nithoniniel
Registered User
Yeah I agree with most here. I bet it sucks to be a Sharks fan right now, but there's still reason to believe that there's a successful rebuild happening and thus a future. It can't be possible to have that faith if you're Ottawa or Buffalo right now, in particular the former. I don't know how you deal with a situation like that as a fan. Our incompetent years were bad enough, and we didn't have the ownership issues.
Voight
#winning
Montreal.... they are in no mans lands.
Not good enough to be a cup contender, unable to get the guys to make them a cup contender, but also can't rebuild with Price/Weber on the books.
Not good enough to be a cup contender, unable to get the guys to make them a cup contender, but also can't rebuild with Price/Weber on the books.
I like Brady (and defended him endlessly leading up to the 2018 draft to stat-watchers), but I'm not sure he's a star in the making. He should be a great complimentary top-line winger. That's a piece with significant value, but I'm not sure that's a star. I also don't really see what at the deadline is going to fetch them a good haul. I'd be surprised if they pull in another first or an A level prospect. They are likely to get picks 2nd round or later at best which are long-shots at actually getting a serviceable NHLer.
I mean, teams are in worse shape long-term just looking at rosters. But, outside of teams like Minnesota, and Detroit, very few teams have as little in their core at the moment. I mean, Buffalo's bad, but they have Eichel and Dahlin. SJ is aging out, and is probably screwed by NTC's but still have valued pieces. LA and Anaheim are probably in worse spots. NJ is in a similar position as Ottawa with only 2 real core pieces in Hischier and Hughes, but they don't have the level of uncertainty around ownership, which just takes Ottawa to a different level.
Minnesota. No Goalie, several untradeable contracts, not much as far as prospects go..
Imnotagoodposter
Registered User
- Jan 5, 2020
- 850
- 935
The teachers' pension plan was pretty bad and indifferent. They essentially let Tannenbaum do his thing and he wasn't very good. Rogers/Bell actually had a vision (and significant incentive due to them controlling the distribution of viewership) to turn the MLSE teams around. The Leafs aren't perfect but it is a lot better than the decade of darkness years, and what they have done with the Raptors and TFC is incredible, both becoming among the model franchises in their respective leagues.
While it was before my time. Ballard was Melnyk before Melnyk.
BlueBaron
Registered User
Not a very nice thread, especially being so subjective. All teams have assets, with decent scouting any tam can be in the right direction after a couple of drafts.
What it boils down to is Ownership and then down to President and then GM. If they are on the ball a team can be moving in the right direction over night.
I don't want to bash Ottawa but ownership is really setting them apart right now.
What it boils down to is Ownership and then down to President and then GM. If they are on the ball a team can be moving in the right direction over night.
I don't want to bash Ottawa but ownership is really setting them apart right now.
MPGA
Make the Panthers Great Again
- Nov 25, 2013
- 3,146
- 1,955
Well the Panthers have made the playoffs twice in the last 20ish years, haven't won a playoff series since 96, and are currently in the late stages of another failed rebuild. So probably them.
Hostile Offer
Artist formerly known as Eagle Peninsula
Buffalo. No matter what they do there seems to be zero progress in that organization and, naturally, things are getting pretty tense with all their stakeholders.
It's not you, not even close, you got Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, 2 top 5 picks, 3 1sts and 6 2nds over the next 2 drafts and that's BEFORE you sell this year.
You are in good shape.
The answer is Buffalo 9 years out of the playoffs, VERY little to show for it beyond the top 2 picks they Olofsson in 2014 that's it and he got hurt so we still don't know what he is.
No center depth, no #1 goalie, no forward depth in general.
The answer is Buffalo
