GailWilliams
Registered User
Sorry, any argument that starts with getting Auston Matthews isn't good for this franchise loses me.
Why is starting the rebuild in earnest in 2-3 years better than starting it now? Do you really want to watch 2-3 more years of this boring, slopping hockey than you have to? I know the rebuild is going to be painful, but the sooner it starts the sooner it can potentially lead to something good to watch on the ice. And if you are satisfied with watching Horvat, Baertschi, McCann, Virtanen, Hutton play well and start to form a bigger part of this team's core (which is the only part that i do enjoy these days), well imagine how much you would enjoy watching Matthews or Laine or Nylander be part of that group as well.
I do appreciate the thought you've put into your post and it is 100x better than most of the half-assed attempts to shove a "losing is for losers" narrative down our throats, but I don't think there is any strong rational for not rebuilding today. In my view, teams should either be competing for a cup or building towards competing for a cup. Since this team is clearly not actually competing for anything except a first round punting, I view anything that isn't contributing to a rebuild as just procrastinating and wasting time.
I don't think it needs to be binary, though I see what you're saying. I think the Canucks bottoming out this year would likely be the end of WD, but not Benning. Without a good supporting cast (specifically at the back end) this team is not a contender, even with Matthews. Playoff bubble team perhaps, but I don't think we're one center away from competing with the likes of Chicago, Dallas etc. My argument is that drafting 6-10 this year and grabbing a Chychrun, Sergachyov, Juolevi could actually turn out to be a net positive for the franchise. Which is not to say that I'll be disappointed if we get Matthews, but I don't want Jim Benning in charge of this team when they can potentially contend and I worry that adding a star player now will give him job security.