It is still going to take several years to get a team together that will be a more legitimate NHL team. There is no need to mediocre your way out of the lottery just to be the 4th from last team. I just don't see the benefit. Going from the top of the bubble teams that don't make it to last place on purpose is one thing, trying to be the 5th from last team when that is your top end, I just don't see the point.
I see the point, just build generally better.
Like free UFA assets. Krug and Lehner would plug obvious holes, and would be free assets. Then you can trade other assets, when you have proven ones, and buy time for kid goalies to develop. This goalie-thing is a no-brainer for me. Having Lehner or no-Lehner does not rise us off from the worst team. But it will give more meaningful hockey. Guys won't log out so soon as there was games at last season everybody logged off after Howard did let in the first easy goal. This can't happen any longer, or anykind of right lockerroom culture is lost.
If Krug is willing to come, we can trade some pieces from defence. People are desperately wanting these Drysdales etc, who are years away from being strong backbones for our team. Ryan Ellis was drafted 2009, he became Nashville regular at 2013-14, so it took 4-5 years for him. You can add proven defence pretty easily, from current market, with under 30-aged guys and cost-controlled way, and target forwards in future drafts. Forwards pan out faster. Perfetti or Raymond will do damage with their ELCs, don't think any defenceman from this 2020 will do.
When you build the team overall better, also the production level will rise. That will raise the trade value of certain guys. Now nobody isn't going to pay huge futures about a guy like Mantha, because he doesn't look like that. That thing isn't proven yet, just speculated. But have a good season for him, surrounded by elite talent, and there will be GMs taking phonecalls. And you need one crazy and desperate guy to make a stupid offer like multiple 1st round picks to pull the trigger. If you don't build this kind of environment at all, that phonecall never happens.
Everything adds on. Staying on the bottom does not add on anything. We just slide year by year with current guys faster against their free agency, and some will bolt out. But if we build this team, on every areas, it will be motivational for the "losing" core, maybe they like to stay, maybe they see some hope, that this team could turn things out faster than thought. Or they still want out, but at least the team is playing better and their trade value is rising. GM is starting to like his options.
You have to build an environment, where you have too much options. A surplus. Then you can start trading pieces.
If you don't add quality from outside, I think it will be the Sabres rebuild. Still not going anywhere, even though they have the pieces many in Detroit are hoping for. Just too much of those losing seasons in-a-row and bad culture to shave out.
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And I had different opinions about taking some salary dumps earlier on, when cap was estimated to rise. There would have been that extra space on our cap to take some other contracts.
Now, after the cap rise is deleted thanks to corona, I don't want take any other teams camp dumps to our team. We already have our own in Nielsen and Abdelkader. We deal with them, maybe buyoyt or bury them.
Let others suffer with their guys. That effect will push good people out, and we should target those good players. Not these cap dumps.
