What Winnipeg did and what we should continue to do is to not trade away our core and semi-core pieces just because the process has hit a speed bump on the way to becoming a true contender. Imagine if Winnipeg had decided to trade one of Wheeler, Byfuglien, Hellebuyck, Scheifele (who was the same age as Nylander, and older than Matthews and Marner when they were swept by Anaheim), or Ehlers during they're struggles after getting swept and failing to make the playoffs between 2015-2017? They didn't panic and trade their key players away to fill holes like many here are so eager to do. So many are ready to part ways with Nylander, Kadri, Gardiner, etc. because we're not where we "should be" as a team. Who decided where we should be right now?
If the Leafs had missed the playoffs in 16-17 like the majority of people predicted, this years' game 7 semi-collapse against the Bruins would be seen in a much different light. As it stands, because we're out in the first round in back to back years (when our best players are 20-21 mind you) we need to start making moves now because we've got these huge holes to fill and no time to wait in filling them. Christ, I thought we were all about patience now?