I'm honestly trying to figure out how you retool this roster, given its cap situation. I'm also trying to figure out how you do that without mortgaging more of the future.
If we had room to play with, fine - then it gets somewhat easier. But I've said for months now that this franchise is at a very precarious position and it could easily degenerate into a quasi-rebuild that I think takes longer and is more difficult than a lot of people realize. I think we have good pieces, but it's one of those rare situations where you put a bunch of good players together and they don't mesh. The Rangers were in this boat a handful of years back. Gretzky/Hull is a great example from Blues history. It happens - not often, but it does, and at that point you may have to add by subtracting.
To carter's points:
1. Berube isn't the guy going forward unless this roster gets turned over a fair amount. [Which implies a semi-major retooling.] I have eventual apologies to make to Flyers fans who said as much. Berube's style is a hard-driving, physical, grinding kind of play ... which is great, if your roster is built for that. It's great, when you've got kids and you're getting them used to the pro game. This roster, ... is not built for it. He would have been perfect for the '15-16 and prior teams [also known as the "Ken Hitchcock (is ruining this team) era"]. This group of guys? No.
2. If there's [still?] an issue in the locker room, it begs the question of why the GM hasn't fixed it by now. I think if you try to fix it, it's going to take more than one trade and within a couple you're moving into "more than retooling."
3. See my initial comments above. It's "change for change's sake" and I don't know what that accomplishes. Let's be smart about this.
4. Totally agreed. OK, sure - we've gotten 1st-round picks back from Washington [flipped to Philadelphia], Pittsburgh [because now #31 is a 1st-round pick] and Winnipeg. We've also traded 3 of our own last 6 1st-round picks, and one of the next two is guaranteed to go. Yeah, we've had 4 1st-round picks and 4 2nd-round picks the last 4 drafts; we've picked in the 3rd round exactly once since 2013, when we took Jake Walman in '14. Quit shipping picks for alleged short-term fixes, let's start actually building depth. And, [gasp!] let's start figuring out how to develop guys at the AHL level for the first time in decades.
5. I've opined on this considerably, any more is beating a dead horse.
6. Agreed. I'd also add, start being smart about who you're having be the #1 guy. Halak got outplayed by Elliott and then went into a fog; Elliott was never trusted to be the #1 guy, and when he had issues it was see, we knew he couldn't be the #1 guy - get him the hell out followed by well shit, we gotta turn to someone, ... f***, I guess he's the guy for now. Allen has continually had issues, but got anointed future #1 and was getting [and keeping] that spot come hell or high water. Husso was all but anointed future #1 after last year, while Binnington was pretty much dogshit to a number of fans. Open up the net to competition, let the best guy win, and trust him and see what he can do - but for crying out loud, show some faith where it's deserved.