I get being cautious but the current crop of youngsters (ie. D'Amico, Foudy, Cuylle, etc.) have all surpassed the progress of the ones from the last rebuild. That's undeniable. There's a legit reason to be very optimistic about how the next few seasons should go.
I'd also argue the "hasn't been competitive" part - five seasons of .500+ hockey, including back-to-back 40-win seasons, since 2011. The two times they had 4o-win seasons... they were beaten by a darn good Rangers team in the first round (who had more points) and they took the Knights to game seven. I get the frustration but we act like this team doesn't do much and that's simply not true.
Now, to avoid getting into THAT debate again (which I don't want to do, but answered out of respect), I go back to the original point. It's hard to believe this board is optimistic about the future given what we've read on here. Heck, I posted a thing about Cuylle/Foudy being lookd at by the NHL and you'd think it takes off as a topic. Nope. Not even a bit. I get the "it excited but hopefully they don't make the same mistakes" argument, I really do. It just feels like it's "yeah, they're good but... this, this, this, and this mean I'm not sold." I don't get it.
First, some of the current crop of youngsters have surpassed expectations, others have not including some that are no longer here.
Second, concerns over the current state of the franchise and guarded optimism for the future are thoughts/opinions that can be held by the same person without being contradictory. There are obvious issues with how things are currently being run/managed/handled even though they have some young talent that can be the basis for a bright future. If the issues aren't resolved that are creating the current opinions about this team then regardless of the talent of the youth the future does not necessarily include automatic success. How many other teams have had high level prospects yet never achieved much success above a .500 record, including past Windsor teams? Cuylle, Foudy, McDonald and D'Amico all look to be bright young talents. Douglas, Corcoran Angle, Ladd, Henault and Frasca look to be potential strong supporting members, that's great for the future. Right now three of those players have 20+ goals, Angle has 15 and may reach 20 this year but when looking to the future how many of those players will be here beyond next year's deadline?
Angle will likely be back for an OA year in two years so he can be considered part of the future. Corcoran and Douglas, IMO are doubtful for two reasons. First they likely won't return for an OA year as both are drafted and Douglas in particular needs to face bigger, more skilled players to further his development and second if they are not likely to be back and Windsor is in need of assets then they should definitely be moved since they would bring the biggest returns outside of the 01s and 02s.
So yes, Windsor has some very talented kids and some others who should be significant, above average role players but looking at this line up and who should be here in two years raises some serious concerns. There are only eight players from the current roster who should be here IMO, leaving Piiroinen out of the discussion for now since the jury is out on him. That's ten bodies that need to be acquired over the coming two seasons, excluding goaltenders and extras for depth to be a very good, competitive team. The youth provides the optimism while the lack of numbers provides concern.
We can all say but Rychel will get those players, fine but for most the last ten or so years he hasn't. He has had far more misses then successes in the drafts as well as off season acquisitions and they have been very costly. More then ten years ago he was building a track record but the last ten years that track record of success has been far out weighed by less then stellar results. That is cause for concern.
The coaching has been beyond questionable this year and to a certain extent last year as well. Last year Letowski, even when making some questionable decisions got a pass because they were selling off but this year when there's been a clear mandate to keep developing the youth he has prioritized vets over youth all year long. Foudy and Cuylle have been the exception for obvious reasons but even those two at times have taken a back seat to players in various situations that should not have been happening. That is another major concern.
The players themselves, the leadership of many vets has been beyond lacking. Keeping a few key players around to provide guidance and leadership for the young kids is great, in theory but the vets of this group have failed to live up to this for the most part so now you have a bunch of kids who either have to step up on their own or will continue to follow the same aimless path that has been set out before them. That is a major cause for concern.
So yes, the talent of some of the kids provide a bright spot and cause to be optimistic but the track record of the last decade, the lack of direction on and off the ice combined with the lack of assets going forward create a lot of reasons to be concerned about the future as well. Critiquing a bad game, bad stretch of games or a bad season is not being negative, it's stating the obvious but it does not preclude someone from being optimistic about the future. When a team fails to address the issues then it becomes justified to question both the present and the future and that will normally come off as negative to some since it becomes as repetitive as the issues surrounding the team.
This year we saw individual improvements from a number of players, top flight rookies come in and yet this team as a whole has regressed;. People can throw out DiPietro being moved this year as the reason all they like but that's a crutch when you consider how many pieces were moved last year combined with how many pieces were returned and added to this year. Regressing after what they did last year is a sign that there are major issues. They should not have been considered a top four team this year and yes, that's Rychel trying to sell the product but going backwards when there were at least three teams in their conference that were going to be taking a step back, like Windsor did last year and two other teams that were still a step behind Windsor should be considered unacceptable. That is the biggest cause for concern for the future.
I'm optimistic that things will be better next year as well as going beyond but next year there are a lot of pieces who should not be returning for various reasons, more that should be moved come the deadline but the issue that creates is Rychel needs to fill those spots with limited assets. Rychel probably needs at least five forwards, three D and at least one goaltender next season. That's a lot of bodies to add over an off season and if everyone who should be moved is moved that doesn't address depth which as we are seeing now and have in the past as well can be a major problem. That's another major cause of concern.
Potentially bright future? Yes. Will the way things have gone the last ten years bring it to fruition? No. Rychel needs to have a year on par with the 07/08 to 10/11 seasons and that's going to take a lot for that to happen. with limited resources to accomplish it. I see more of 2011/12 to 2016/17 in this rebuild then I see of the season leading up to 2010/11. Hopefully Rychel proves me and others wrong but as of right now the only optimism is surrounding the young players and not the way things have been handled.
