It's all about money in my mind. I chose playoff revenue but I think D could be a close second (E as well to an extent). I used to believe the notion that perhaps management really truly believed the team was "good enough" but not anymore, not after so many years and the exact same result. There is no way that they can't see what the rest of us do, regardless of whatever it is that they're saying publicly.
In the end, it's a business. Even the loyalty to Jarome (I think there is some) is more tied into the translated loss/gain (unlikely) of revenue that it would cause. As such, it will always be money driven. Of course, winning the cup would be the absolute best way to generate income but as 2004 showed, a deep run could potentially do the same.
So, they're basically stuck at the moment with a mediocre team that still brings in revenue as we still do alright, ticket sales are still high, season ticket holders are still plentiful... but it doesn't generate the money that a playoff run would generate. But coupled with the fact that we are "so" close to making the playoffs as well as the fact that rebuilding would definitely have a short-term drop in revenue, they basically just tinker with what we've got, hoping that one season (before interest completely dies off) they somehow manage to scrape in and make some noise, thereby repeating said cycle.
A rebuild just has too many unknowns in terms of profits and losses that it isn't smart business practice IMO and unfortunately, unless management can swallow some losses for a potential future gain, it just isn't going to happen.
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