Again, we've already debated this. The team overachieved unfortunately, there was no chance in hell they would've sold during those years.
The teams results were skewed, anyone who watched the Habs under Therrien his first 3yrs could easily see that the team was critically flawed, that while Carey Price and PK Subban could carry them beyond what the quality of their team dictated they should be, ultimately, when faced against true Cup contenders who could nullify Price/Subban...
The Habs just didn't have what it took to play against contenders down the middle....
Look at who the Habs lost against in the playoffs under Therrien, compare those teams down the middle against the Habs.
The Habs were overachievers, you're right about that...overachievers = pretenders.
Your plan made no sense at that moment.
If the overall plan was win now...
Winning now (or then since we're talking past term) was not my plan because I knew the Habs were a critically flawed team, I was OK with taking a step back and acquiring more assets for when I thought the Habs would/should actually be ready to contend.
But they continued to invest in this flawed team and they hit a wall...which was exactly what I and many here, argued would happen.
You can't legitimately say you're going to compete for a Cup and Tomas Plekanec is our highest paid forward and top center. It just doesn't make any sense.
"My plan" was pretty straightforward, after the habs lost to the Bolts in 2014-15, where I thought Tomas Plekanec was directly responsible for 2 losses with his lazy play and inability to finish gifted chances, I thought it was time to reset then.
I wasn't talking about blowing it up, just re-setting. I argued in favor of moving him because Plekanec would be a UFA at the conclusion of the following season (22015-16) and I knew the Habs would end up re-signing him at a salary which didn't make sense (you can search posts of mine which literally say the Habs will be paying Plekanec 6M to be their 3rd line centere months before he signed his extension).
BTW - this sounds eerily similar to what's happening with Pacioretty right now.
I proposed doing like the Coyotes did when they moved Vermette for a 1st + prospect...I thought the 2015 draft looked very strong and I suggested having two 1st round picks could help us resolve our center ice issue at the very least.
In 2015 the Habs ended up picking Juulsen at #26...Tomas Plekanec then, was still a highly regarded player, the Habs could of been able to snag an extra 1st round pick (+ prospect) from a team that finished in the teens or late 20's...let's look at some players drafted in that range in 2015.
#16 Matthew Barzal, #17 Kyle Connor, #18 Thomas Chabot, #20 Joel Ericksson-Ek, #21 Colin White, #23 Brock Boeser, #24 Travis Koneckny, #25 Jake Roslovic
How much different would the Habs be today with one of these players + a prospect from one of these teams?
This isn't hindsight either, I argued it at the time.
Surviving? They won the division 3 times in 5 years...
and? what's your point?
Successful teams are built on a sustainable model...not one that's built almost entirely on key players on its team punching above their weight class.
