What hill are you dying on here?
I was terrified they would sign Severson to some dumbass contract because he's not close to Hronek in quality and that is bearing out in Columbus where he's not part of the solution and has already been benched at times.
He's a competent top 4 D, don't get me wrong, but signing him to some asinine 7 year contract would have been horrendous and, whether this year or next, wouldn't have led to us improving the way we have and would have likely led to the loss of our stars.
Like, do you think the braintrust just wasn't smart enough to see that Severson was a free asset? Or do you think that their scouting determined that he's not close to Hronek in quality?
I think management willingly sacrificed on future team ceiling in order to prioritize the now. Drance has said the same. Is he wrong/negative for saying this? No. He's accurate. They made a conscious decision to keep with the Benning plan (though with much better execution), rather than build from a deeper base of prospects and picks. It's very simple really.
Severson is an example of paying for now players with money rather than futures. He's a lesser player to Hronek (who is about to break the bank himself), but then you would also be using NYI's 1st at the draft (Maybe for Sandin-Pellika).
Judging by what the team has done with their 4 recent UFA signings, it seemed more a matter of getting NHL quality depth than seeing Hughes-Hronek dominate. Hughes carries that pairing and would have done so with Severson as well, though with lesser results (fine).
First, yeah we oretty much do know as Hughes has said he would not have stayed. Hell Petey still hasn't agreed to sign just yet...
To your first point... that is the point... no team would rebuild from where the Canucks were. That is the FANTASY. You could try and make a retool plan and it probably could have worked a year or two earlier... but not where the Canucks were.
It just continues to amaze me how you're able to project what would and would not have happened given a strategy. Like "could have worked a year or two earlier" or "not where the Canucks were"... What are the lotto numbers going to be?
Racerjoe, your static position remains incorrect because you eliminate the probabilities of alternative paths. It's one sided. A lower probability pathway like a full rebuild was still a valid consideration (Rutherford's quote) even if they chose to forgo it. Dismissing it as invalid only highlights the weakness of your argument.
On the Fantasy aspect: CHI did wipe the slate clean by dealing Dach and DeBrincat in order to tank and draft Bedard. Or, simply because they felt that Dach/DeBrincat weren't good enough to build around. Another that comes to mind is Eichel-Reinhart being dealt from BUF in order to restart their franchise with Thompson-Dahlin the reins. It happens.
